Vanderbilt University's Dr. Richard Leher to give Science Education Talk
10.19.2007
The Joseph D. Moore Distinguished Lecture Series
In Math and Science Education
Inaugural Presentation
Dr. Richard Lehrer, Professor of Science Education,
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Topic: Learning to Reason about Variability and Chance
By Inventing Measures and Models
When: Friday, November 9, 2007, 11:00AM
Dr. Lehrer describes an approach to statistics education that capitalizes on the historic relation between measurement error and statistics, and enriches this relation in light of modern capacities for simulation and representation. Fifth and sixth grade students each measured the same attribute and then invented representations (visual displays) and measures (statistics) that described the collection of measurements. Students then used hand-held tools and TinkerPlots software to develop a simulation model of observed values as a composition of fixed value and multiple sources of random error. The latter was a children’s version of analysis of variance. Diversity in students’ inventions invites attention to the qualities of “good” statistics and “good” models. Dr. Lehrer will conclude with some thoughts about the design of assessments that capture some of the potentially rich relations between data and chance that were supported by this approach to statistics education.
Where: The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation
1890 Main Campus Drive
Raleigh NC 27606
For questions, please contact Joanne Frisch at joanne_frisch@ncsu.edu.
