Reading Statistics

Abstract

There has been a substantial increase in the cultural and academic diversity of commencing tertiary students over the previous decade. From 1990 to 2000 the total number of students in higher education increased by 43% (to just under 700,000), while the number of overseas students increased by a factor of four (to just under 100,000), raising the ratio to one-in-seven students (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002). With this increase in number and cultural diversity comes an increase in their academic diversity. At the same time, changes in the nature and scope of professional work are placing an increasing demand on the range of skills, linguistic and numerical, that are needed by a successful graduate. A challenge for mathematics and statistics educators is the development of curriculum that addresses the language-related difficulties of language minority students, the numerical difficulties of students with diverse mathematical backgrounds, and enhances the learning outcomes for all students. This paper describes our approach to this challenge, based on our research in student conceptions of statistics and the language needs of professionals in the mathematical sciences, and embodied in the learning materials that we are currently developing. Australian government and professional bodies have recognised the importance of this area. A recent review with a scope of ‘the 15 years from 1995–2010’, finds ‘unequivocal evidence that, as an economic and social instrument, advanced mathematical services relying on the mathematical sciences are critically important to Australia’ (National Committee for Mathematics, 1996). Recent government initiatives have targeted declining interest, standards and resourcing in mathematics (see for example Thomas, 2000). Similarly, universities are moving towards the integration of ‘generic skills’ within the curriculum, loosely equating statistical study with a higher-level ‘numeracy’.