The Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics (eCOTS) will take place from May 14-18, 2012, with keynote presentations by technology innovators Hans Rosling of the Gapminder Foundation and Karolinska Institute and Webster West of Texas A&M taking place on May 18.
The conference themes are “Debating Some of the Big Ideas About Teaching Statistics,” “Statistics for the Modern Student,” and “Reaching Out and Building Relationships Beyond the College Statistics Classroom.”
There will be approximately four 20–30 minute webinars by invited and peer-reviewed session leaders each day from May 14–16. Conference registrants are encouraged to attend the webinars as they are under way, asking questions and interacting with other conference attendees; however, the webinars will be recorded and available for registrants to view by May 17. Also on May 17, virtual workshops lasting up to two hours will take place. These will provide an overview of materials being produced as part of National Science Foundation–funded work in statistics education.
Along with the keynote presenters, session leaders from each webinar will be arranged into panels—each focusing on a conference theme—for question-and-answer sessions. Finally, there will be a peer-reviewed virtual ‘poster’ session. All posters will be recorded and posted at the CAUSE website so participants can view them and ask questions or make comments throughout the week. Poster presenters will be encouraged to check back often and respond to any questions or comments about their work.
Like the United States Conference on Teaching Statistics (USCOTS), eCOTS was designed to focus on undergraduate-level statistics education (including AP Statistics), with the target audience being statistics teachers. Whereas USCOTS is held in odd-numbered years, eCOTS will occur during even-numbered years. It is hoped that eCOTS will be a forum in which statistics educators from around the world can network as they learn how to incorporate new ideas, methods, and resources into their existing courses or programs. The registration fee for attending eCOTS is $15.
This virtual conference will be hosted by the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE). The conference program committee is chaired by Michelle Everson of the University of Minnesota (email questions about the program to gaddy001@umn.edu). Registration information and conference updates will be available at the CAUSE website.
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