Beyond AP Statistics Workshop Held in Conjunction with JSM

Rebecca Nichols, ASA Director of Education, and Roxy Peck, BAPS Program Chair

The American Statistical Association/National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Joint Committee on Curriculum in Statistics and Probability sponsored a Beyond AP Statistics (BAPS) workshop at the annual Joint Statistical Meetings in Baltimore August 3. The BAPS workshop is offered for experienced AP Statistics teachers and consists of enrichment material just beyond the basic AP curriculum.

This year, 29 teachers came to Baltimore for a full-day workshop designed to strengthen and expand teachers’ statistics backgrounds. The brainchild of former ASA/NCTM Joint Committee Chair Jim Matis, BAPS has been offered at JSM for nearly two decades.

This year’s BAPS workshop, organized by Roxy Peck of Cal Poly, was divided into four sessions led by the following statisticians:

• Tom Short of West Chester University
  Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
• Allan Rossman and Beth Chance of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
  Probability Models
• Jessica Utts of the University of California, Irvine
  Multiple Regression
• James Cochran of the University of Alabama
  Teaching with Cases

ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein and ASA Vice President Kathy Ensor welcomed the workshop participants. Washington Statistical Society president Linda Young and other chapter members also welcomed the BAPS attendees and spent time networking with them during breakfast and lunch.

Participants were given a pass to attend the exhibit hall at the Joint Statistical Meetings and a certificate of participation from the American Statistical Association certifying professional development hours. Optional 0.5 graduate credit hours was also available through Adams State University. Some BAPS participants opted to also attend the high-school sessions of the Meeting Within a Meeting Statistics Workshop for Math and Science Teachers on August 2.

Chapters and members are encouraged to connect with local AP Statistics teachers and middle- and high-school mathematics and science teachers. Questions should be directed to Rebecca Nichols, ASA director of education.