We are pleased to announce the publication of  Reasoning about Variability: A Collection of Current Research Studies, a unique CD that contains research papers on reasoning about variability that were presented at the Third International Research Forum on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy (SRTL-3) held July 2003 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. Many of these papers (which are all written in English) contain video segments (in English or with English subtitles), of student interviews or teaching experiments in classrooms. These video segments and research studies provide a rich resource for researchers and teachers. The video segments included on the CD are to be used only for research purposes. For any other purpose, permission should be obtained from the individual authors.

REASONING ABOUT VARIABILITY

What is variability in data? Is there a distinction between variability and variation? Why is variability important? When and how do children begin to develop the preliminary idea of variability? What are the simplest forms that children can understand? How does reasoning about variability develop? What are instructional tasks and technological tools that promote the understanding of variability? What are the common misconceptions regarding variability? What are the difficulties that people encounter when dealing with variability in data? What does correct reasoning about variability look like? What are ways to assess understanding of variability? How does an understanding of variability connect and effect understanding of other statistical concepts and types of reasoning? What are useful methodologies for studying the understanding of variability? What type of understanding of variability is sufficient for a statistically literate person?

These are just a few of the questions we wish to investigate in the Third International Research Forum on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking, and Literacy (SRTL-3). The focus of this gathering on reasoning about variability has naturally emerged from the previous two conferences

Advisory Committee
For the Third International Research Forum
on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy

Dani Ben-Zvi (Chair), University of Haifa, Israel, dbenzvi@beeri.org.il
Joan Garfield (Chair), University of Minnesota, USA, jbg@umn.edu
William T. Mickelson (Local Organizer), University of Nebraska, USA, wmickelson2@unl.edu
Chris Reading (Local Organizer), University of New England, Australia, creading@metz.une.edu.au
Pat Thompson, Vanderbilt University, USA, Pat.Thompson@vanderbilt.edu
Jane Watson, University of Tasmania, Australia, Jane.Watson@utas.edu.au
Chris Wild, The University of Auckland, New Zealand, c.wild@auckland.ac.nz
Maxine Pfannkuch, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Editorial Members

Carl Lee (Editor, Proceedings CD), Central Michigan University, USA, Carl.Lee@cmich.edu
Aaron Satterlee (Assistant Editor, Proceedings CD), Central Michigan University, USA, satte1aa@cmich.edu

Reasoning about Variability: A Collection of Current Research Studies

Proceedings of SRTL-3

Papers included in the CD (click on title to view abstract)                                            To Order the CD

    1. Rob Gould
        Variability: One Statistician's View (See the Paper)

    2. Jane Watson and Ben A. Kelly
        Developing Intuitions about Variation: The Weather (see the paper)

    3. Chris Reading
        Student Perceptions of Variation in a Real World Context  (See the paper)

    4. Bob delMas & Yan Liu
        Exploring Students' Understanding of Statistical Variation  (see the paper)

    5. Avital Lann and Ruma Falk
        What are the Clues for Intuitive Assessment of Variability?  (see the paper)

    6. Dani Ben-Zvi
        The Emergence of Reasoning about Variability in Comparing Distributions (see the paper)
        A Case Study of Two Seventh Grade Students

    7. Arthur Bakker
        Reasoning About Shape as a Pattern in Variability  (see the paper)

    8. James Hammerman & Andee Rubin
        Reasoning in the Presence of Variability  (see the paper)

    9. Katie Makar and Jere Confrey
        Chunks, Clumps, and Spread Out:
        Secondary Preservice Teachers’ Informal Notions of Variation and Distribution  (see the paper)

   10. Maria Meletiou & Carl Lee
        Studying the Evolution of Students' Conceptions of Variation   (see the paper)
        Using the Transformative and Conjecture Driven Research Design

   11. Ruth Heaton and William Mickelson
        Purposeful Statistical Investigation Merged with K-6 Content: (see the paper)
        Variability, Learning and Teacher Knowledge Use in Teaching

Note: revised versions of some of these papers will appear in a special issue of IASE Statistics Education Research Journal in November, 2004. However, they will not contain the video links and not all papers in the CD will be in this issue.

Ordering Information

The CDs are available for a minimal cost that covers materials and postage. They may be purchased from Professor Carl Lee who is the treasurer for the SRTL nonprofit organization.

The total cost including shipping in the USA is $10 and the total cost for shipping overseas is $15.

Questions Related to CD: Contact Carl Lee

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Please make checks payable to   Carl Lee (SRTL3)

Mail checks to:

Carl Lee
Att: SRTL3 Proceedings
Department of Mathematics
Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
USA