University of Tasmania, Australia

StatSmart is an ARC Linkage Project based at the University of Tasmania with Chief Investigators, Professor Jane Watson and Associate Professor Rosemary Callingham. The Industry Partners are the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Key Curriculum Press in the US (publisher of statistical software for schools), and the Baker Centre for School Mathematics at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. The ABS has provided a 2-day conference in Melbourne each of 3 years for 45 teachers from 3 states (Tasmania, Victoria, and South Australia) and supported an APAI student, Colin Carmichael. Key Curriculum Press has provided software (TinkerPlots and Fathom) to all participating schools, paid for 4 visits to Australia by the software developers (Cliff Konold and Bill Finzer), and supported an APAI student, Anthony Bill. The Baker Centre has provided support for teachers in South Australia and the professional development expertise of its Director, Anthony Harradine.

The research aims of the project include evidence-based outcomes reporting teacher and student change as a result of the extensive professional learning opportunities provided to teachers in the project. Extensive longitudinal data from students is being collected, coded, and entered to assess change. Besides completing teacher profiles, 40 teachers have been interviewed to assess pedagogical content knowledge for teaching statistics at the middle school level. Rasch methods are being employed in ground-breaking analysis that is leading the field of mathematics education in the area of teacher knowledge for teaching mathematics

More information is available on the web site or contact one of the Chief Investigators:

Professor Jane Watson
Telephone: +61 (0)3 62262570
Email: Jane.Watson@utas.edu.au

Associate Professor Rosemary Callingham
Telephone +61 (0)3 63243051
Email: Rosemary.Callingham@utas.edu.au