Join the University of Auckland Department of Statistics for our annual Statistics Teachers' Day, organised in collaboration with the Auckland Mathematics Association.
What's the plan for the day?
The event will be held at the University of Auckland city campus.
Registration fees: AMA members $180 + GST, non-AMA members $200 + GST
Registrations will open Thursday 7th November 2024.
Who are the keynote speakers?
Matthew Parry
Matthew Parry is an Associate Professor in Statistics at the University of Otago Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka. He teaches into all levels of the Statistics and Data Science programmes at Otago. His current research interests involve predicting geomagnetic storm events, understanding the role of DNA methylation in cancer, and modelling the spread of disease. Matt is also a cricket tragic who coaches a number of cricket teams and lives vicariously through the exploits of his children.
How I learned to stop worrying and love uncertainty
What does a forecast probability of 80% for rain tomorrow mean? What does a predicted probability of 80% for a severe geomagnetic storm event in the next five years mean? What about a probability of 80% that a blood sample has detected cancer? If the heart of statistics is learning from data, then quantifying uncertainty is its guts. In this talk, I will describe how I went from answering some theoretical questions to solving some practical problems, how I became a statistician along the way and how I became more comfortable with uncertainty. I will also explain how we can assess students based on their stated levels of uncertainty. For in the end, true knowledge is knowing what you don’t know, as much as it is knowing what you do know.
Lara Cordonni
Lara is a Statistics teacher at John Paul College in Rotorua. Before becoming a teacher, she worked the corporate ladder, converting Japanese taste buds to Belgian chocolate, introducing beer into supermarkets at Lion Breweries and getting people hooked on more fanta flavours. The plan was to inject some spark into dry economics concepts before landing in a Year 13 Statistics class by accident. After getting hooked, lined and sunk to the bottom of the maths department, she was entrusted with the Head. Connections are at the heart of her teaching philosophy - whether it’s sparking student “aha” moments with real-life applications or weaving together the diverse talents of her team to steer through change. Be warned: Her senior students bestowed her with the “I Digress” award—so prepare for a few scenic detours along the way.
Connections
This keynote unpacks a kete of ideas in Statistics—tried, true, and (mostly) effective! We’ll tackle front-loading for Numeracy and Scholarship, dabble in sources of variation, and wrestle with data ethics. Discover why, in data visualisations, emotions lead the way and facts follow. Along the trail, expect a dash of randomness, a sprinkle of common sense, and find out why food is a dealbreaker in navigating change in education.
Contact information
Registration queries
Anne Patel
Email: a.patel@auckland.ac.nz
Workshop/programme queries
Anna Fergusson
Email: a.fergusson@auckland.ac.nz
Useful information and resources
You can read more about the statistics education research team at the University of Auckland here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/science/about-the-faculty/department-of-statistics/statistics-research/statistics-education.html
To learn more about postgraduate study in Mathematics Education, check out this page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/study/study-options/find-a-study-option/mathematics-education/postgraduate.html
You can read more about the Auckland Mathematical Association here: https://www.aucklandmaths.org.nz/
Make sure you check out the new online teaching journal called Statistics and Data Science Educator here: https://sdse.online/
Also worth reading is Prismatic (Practice and Research in Statistics and Mathematics), an online journal of research and practice in mathematics and statistics education: https://prismatic.auckland.ac.nz/
Lastly, don't forget resources from previous Statistics Teachers' Days can be found on Census At School: https://new.censusatschool.org.nz/
Looking for info on Maths & Calculus day?
Check out their website here: https://sites.google.com/view/ama-maths-day/