Centre for Statistical Education The Journal Teaching Statistics

Centre for Statistical Education The Journal Teaching Statistics Neville Davies Gerald Goodall The Royal Statistical Society Centre for Statistical Education Nottingham Trent University, UK The Royal Statistical Society 12, Errol Street, London, UK With help from Peter Holmes, David Green and Neville Hunt JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Plan • • • History The Editors & experiences Articles submitted 1988 - 2004 Publishers & Journal Development The Future JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

In the Beginning … Sheffield, England 1977 Vic Barnett Joe Gani Peter Holmes JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Teaching Statistics Trust Set up to publish Teaching Statistics – but with broader aims to improve statistical education for all ages sponsored by … Applied Probability Trust Royal Statistical Society Institute of Statisticians International Statistical Institute JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Teaching Statistics • • Three issues per year For teachers of students aged 9 -19 Both specialist and user-disciplines Emphasis on teaching and the classroom Inform, entertain, encourage and enlighten Light and readable International perspective JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Getting it going • Run on a shoestring • 1 st issue was distributed freely – this used up much of the borrowed capital • Designed for an international audience – Even in 1 st issue there were many international authors JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

The four editorial eras … • • 1978 - 1987 - 1993 - 1997 - Peter Holmes David Green Neville Hunt Gerald Goodall JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

1978 -1987 Peter Holmes • Venture of faith • Setting the standard • Establishing readership • Panel of referees JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Early days. . . Articles • some commissioned initially • first received - David Hill 20/3/78 • timeless - The Pie Chart: a Piece of Cake • prolific author - A. F. Bissell JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Early design - 32 pages of size 17. 5 cm by 24. 5 cm JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Early days … Editorials “Many new developments are based on hunch rather than research. There is not as well developed a theory and body of literature on statistical education as there is in mathematical education. Courses for teachers concentrate on the content rather than the process. ” PH (1979) JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Early days. . . Letters “I am sure Mrs Dolan’s pupils enjoy statistics … Nevertheless … it is most important that all technical terms should be used correctly. Unfortunately this account of some of the work done by her pupils involves a number of serious errors. ” JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Published Proceedings of ICOTS 1, 1982 Profits given to the ISI as base funding for ICOTS 2 held in Victoria, Canada, 1986. JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Peter Holmes’ high and low points • Major high – putting together the first issue & getting it published • Low - unable to persuade teachers of need: (i) to write up their experiences with lower age pupils; (ii) to write up their different insights into teaching statistics in subjects outside mathematics JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

1987 -1993 • Longmans venture • • David Green Computing Corner Curriculum Matters Complete re-design Data Bank Historical Perspective Special Sections Practical Activities IASE pullout feature Problem Page Project Parade In-house publication Research Report JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Longman’s innovation – 32, A 4 -sized pages and an insert from what became the International Association for Statistical Education (IASE), it contained many more photographs and illustrations JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

David Green’s high points • As Editor of Teaching Statistics at its Best 1994 – He chose the 48 best articles from TS for vols 6 -14. • Communicating with colleagues from all round the world and meeting many of them at ICOTS 3 in Dunedin in 1990 JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

David Green’s low points • Following-up commissioned articles – Very often they turned out to be of a poor standard for publishing a lot of extra work was required as editor, since rejection was hardly an option! • The dearth of feedback from readers – When solicited it was very positive but it came very rarely spontaneously, which makes judging the impact (of the journal) on teachers and students hard JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

1993 -1997 • Separation of roles • Golden Jubilee Issue • New special sections Standard Errors Net Benefits Competition Page JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005 Neville Hunt

Neville Hunt’s Experiences • Articles – Too many at too high a level, almost never too low! – Did not get one article that involved the teacher using a data set in an illuminating way • Readers – Corpse-like passivity! – Major competitions that only attracted about 4 entries – Special offer of a disk of data - nil response – We asked for people to tell us what they thought of the journal nil response – The lack of feedback was somewhat unnerving! • Referees – Variation in promptness of reply – Often saw value in a paper that at first sight deserved rejection: indicates the broad church of Teaching Statistics JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

1997 - Gerald Goodall • Mentoring • Spreadsheets • World Wide Web JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Redesigned cover under Blackwell the publishers JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Gerald Goodall’s Highlights • Development of the contract with Blackwell Publishing – excellent working relationship • Very little feedback about the journal – But what there is usually very positive JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Numbers of Articles JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Years of New Editors JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

The ICOTS Years JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Articles accepted/rejected JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Publications – Three Compilations of Articles • The Best of Teaching Statistics has the best articles from volumes 1 – 5, 1979 - 1983 – now out of print, but articles are available online at www. rsscse. org. uk/ts/ • Teaching Statistics at its Best has articles from volumes 6 to 14, 1984 - 1992 • Getting the Best from Teaching Statistics has articles from volumes 15 – 20, 1993 - 1998 – only available online at www. rsscse. org. uk/ts/, free of charge • Since 2000 all the articles are viewable by subscribers via Blackwell’s Synergy online service JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

A The Best series…the first 5 years and years 6 -11 JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

The current publishers - Blackwell • Blackwell Publishing is the world's leading specialist publisher of statistics journals • Annual report to Teaching Statistics Trust – Readership, circulation, sales, marketing activity – Conferences, new marketing campaigns, promotions • Working with search engines – Full text content indexed by Google in 2003 – Increase in online usage • E-proofing introduced, so authors can pick up page proofs from a dedicated web site • Blackwell recently awarded, jointly with the Teaching Statistics Trust, a bursary for a UK teacher to present a paper at ICOTS 7 in Brazil JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

The Future • The Teaching Statistics Trust occasionally debates broadening the readership beyond teachers of students 9 -19 – Resisted, as school-level material would be in danger of being crowded out – TS is still the only international journal that concentrates on school-level statistics material • Not designed for research papers in the traditional academic journal way – Will continue to be about good ideas, things that have been tried and have worked in the classroom • About sharing good practice worldwide JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Visit us on the web at: http: //www. rsscse. org. uk/ts JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005

Last slide JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005