Teaching statistics through data investigations in Australian secondary schools: an Island-based pilot project

Declines in secondary school students' attitudes towards, and participation in, mathematics and science are cause for concern. In 2012, a report from the Office of the Chief Scientist called for universities and schools to develop partnerships aimed at improving mathematics and science education in schools. Responding to this call, this pilot project used an online simulation of a human population, known as the Island (Bulmer & Haladyn, 2011), to develop innovative activities for teaching statistics through data investigations. The activities were aligned with the Statistics and Probability strand of the Australian Mathematics Curriculum. The Island-based activities aimed to engage students in meaningful and realistic statistical practice and thereby improve their attitudes towards statistics. The resources were piloted in four partnered secondary schools from the northern suburbs of Melbourne in years 8 to 11 mathematics classes. Questionnaire data from students' attitudes towards statistics before and after completing the project activities were collected from 237 students. The results found statistically significant increases in positive attitudes towards statistics, however, students' attitudes towards career prospects in statistics were resistant to change and competency significantly declined. The qualitative feedback indicated that most students found the Island to be novel and interesting, with very little difficulty in running the program. This paper discusses the limitations of these findings and the future directions for a national project.