International Statistical Literacy Project
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International Statistical Literacy Project |
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Education Services is the unit within the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) dedicated to promoting statistics in Australia’s primary and secondary schools and assisting teachers and students to increase their level of statistical literacy.
The Education webpages maintained by Education Services on the ABS website offer a wide range of teacher and student resources including classroom activities, education projects, data and statistics, games and puzzles, newsletters and careers information.
Education Services initiated, and is responsible for, the Australian CensusAtSchool project which is the high profile online data collection and analysis project where school students complete a questionnaire about themselves and their interests, and then in the second phase can access and analyse the aggregated data .
Education Services has a nationwide schedule of attendance at workshops, conferences and seminars, and conducts regular mailouts to schools. Ongoing contacts are maintained with a range of education providers, curriculum authorities and educational publishers promoting the value and encouraging the use of statistics across the school spectrum.
Through the National Statistical Training Institute (NSTI) the ABS offers a range of training courses for anyone wishing to develop their statistical skills. Programs are available for beginners or those at a more advanced level. ABS training includes courses on how to:
More information can be found on the ABS website (www.abs.gov.au). Select ‘Services We Provide’on the homepage and then select the link to ABS Training
The Client Services section of the ABS consists of two main sections: the National Information Referral Service (NIRS) is a telephone service (Australia 1300 135 070) open to the general public during business hours where simple statistical queries can be answered, help can be given to navigate the ABS website or advice given on meeting more complex statistical needs. the Information Consultancy Unit (ICU) provides Client Services consultancy services (email: client.services@abs.gov.au) that deal with the more complex queries that fall outside the extensive range of data provided free on the ABS website. The consultancy services provide expert advice on obtaining customised statistical data. Outputs such as tailored reports, customised demographic data or time series, utilising the range of ABS statistical resources can be produced on a fee-for-service basis.
Exploring Data is an excellent collection of links for teaching an introductory level high school or college course. This website contains activities, worksheets, assessments, and datasets in both HTML and MS Word 2.0 format. There are also articles helpful to teachers who have had little formal training in statistics. Part online text, part online course materials, all well presented by Rex Boggs HS in Rockhampton, Australia.