Post on 14-Dec-2015
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
The JournalTeaching Statistics
Neville DaviesThe Royal Statistical Society
Centre for Statistical EducationNottingham Trent University, UK
Gerald GoodallThe Royal Statistical Society12, Errol Street, London, UK
Centre for Statistical Education
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 BarnettJoe 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 TrustRoyal Statistical SocietyInstitute 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• 1st issue was distributed freely
– this used up much of the borrowed capital
• Designed for an international audience– Even in 1st issue there were many international
authors
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
The four editorial eras …
• 1978 - 1987 Peter Holmes• 1987 - 1993 David Green• 1993 - 1997 Neville Hunt• 1997 - Gerald Goodall
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
1978-1987 Peter Holmes
• Setting the standard
• Establishing readership
• Panel of referees
• Venture of faith
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
Early days ...
• first received - David Hill 20/3/78• timeless - The Pie Chart: a Piece of Cake• prolific author - A.F.Bissell
Articles
• some commissioned initially
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
Early design - 32 pages of size 17.5cm 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
Profits given to the ISI as base funding for ICOTS2 held in Victoria, Canada, 1986.
Published Proceedings of ICOTS1, 1982
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 David Green
• IASE pullout feature
• In-house publication
Computing CornerCurriculum MattersData BankHistorical
PerspectivePractical ActivitiesProblem PageProject ParadeResearch Report
• Complete re-design
• Special Sections
• Longmans venture
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
Longman’s innovation – 32, A4-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 ICOTS3 in Dunedin in 1990
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
• 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
David Green’s low points
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
1993-1997 Neville Hunt
• Golden Jubilee Issue
• New special sections Standard Errors Net Benefits Competition Page
• Separation of roles
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
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
• Spreadsheets
• World Wide Web
• Mentoring
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
Articles Submitted to Teaching Statistics 1978-2004
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Accept 29 46 47 43 44 29 26 36 23 38 30 40 48 38 41 40 51 50 43 52 50 57 35 53 41 43 37
78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 0 1 2 3 4
Numbers of Articles
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
Years of New Editors
Articles Submitted to Teaching Statistics 1978-2004
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Accept 29 46 47 43 44 29 26 36 23 38 30 40 48 38 41 40 51 50 43 52 50 57 35 53 41 43 37
78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 0 1 2 3 4
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
The ICOTS Years
Articles Submitted to Teaching Statistics 1978-2004
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Accept 29 46 47 43 44 29 26 36 23 38 30 40 48 38 41 40 51 50 43 52 50 57 35 53 41 43 37
78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 0 1 2 3 4
JSM Minneapolis, 8 Aug 2005
Articles accepted/rejected
Article acceptance rate for Teaching Statistics 1978-2004
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 0 1 2 3 4
Reject
Accept
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 ICOTS7 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
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