EDUCATION
“Understanding statistical concepts, particularly how data is acquired, how it is analyzed, and how the results are interpreted is important for
good citizenship. … We strongly support the MWM concept of starting young people on the path to this understanding.”
~ Tony Lachenbruch, ASA President
Second MWM Workshop for K-12
Mathematics and Science Teachers at JSM
Rebecca Nichols, ASA Assistant Director of K–16 Education Programs, and
Katherine Halvorsen, MWM Program Chair
T
he American Statistical Association held its second annual
Meeting Within a Meeting (MWM) August 4–5 concur-
rently with the 2008 Joint Statistical Meetings in Denver,
Colorado. The program for the MWM workshops in 2008 intro-
duced K–12 teachers to the American Statistical Association’s
Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education
(GAISE) Report: A Pre-K–12 Curriculum Framework (see www.
amstat.org/education/gaise). The workshops gave teachers the oppor-
tunity to discuss and apply the statistical concepts embodied in their
state mathematics and science standards in the context of the
instructional recommendations of GAISE. The MWM program
emphasized the growth of statistical literacy over three developmen-
tal levels that correspond, roughly, to elementary school, middle
school, and high school.
Meeting Within a Meeting (MWM) K–4 Workshop
“One of the primary missions of the American Statistical
Association is to work for the improvement of statistical education
at all levels,” said Ron Wasserstein, the ASA’s executive director.
“We are pleased to reach out to the K–12 math and science com-
munity through the MWM workshop and follow-up activities. It
is fitting to hold this workshop for K–12 teachers in conjunction
with the Joint Statistical Meetings, where 6,000 statisticians from
around the world meet to share advances in statistical knowledge,”
he added. “MWM will not only enhance understanding and teach-
ing of statistics concepts in the classroom, but also provide par-
ticipants with a network of statisticians and educators to assist in
developing the quantitative literacy of their students.”
The MWM curriculum enhances K–12 educators’ understand-
ing of statistics and provides tools to help strengthen their teach-
ing of statistics within the math and science curriculum. “Teachers
Meeting Within a Meeting (MWM) 5–8 Workshop
explore problems that require them to formulate questions, collect,
organize, analyze, and draw conclusions from data and apply the
basic concepts of probability. The MWM program includes exam-
ining what students can be expected to do at the most basic level
of understanding and what can be expected of them as their skills
develop and their experience broadens,” said Katherine Halvorsen,
MWM program chair.
The first MWM was held in conjunction with the 2007 JSM
in Salt Lake City, Utah. The one-day pilot program focused on
Utah middle-school mathematics and science teachers, but includ-
ed teachers from six additional states and Canada. The follow-up
program was directed by Paul Fields and the Utah Chapter and was
funded by an ASA Membership Initiative. The chapter maintained
contact between the Utah teachers who attended MWM through
meetings and classroom visits during the 2007–2008 academic Meeting Within a Meeting (MWM) 9–12 Workshop
OCTOBER 2008 AMSTAT NEWS 43
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