Call for Proposals

The Electronic Conference On Teaching Statistics (eCOTS) will take place from May 14-18, 2012. The conference will be hosted by the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE: www.CAUSEweb.org). Just like the United States Conference On Teaching Statistics (USCOTS), eCOTS has been designed to focus on undergraduate-level statistics education (including AP Statistics), with a target audience of statistics teachers. Whereas USCOTS is held in odd-numbered years, eCOTS will occur during even-numbered years and seeks to provide a virtual meeting space for educators to share ideas, teaching methods, and research results. It is hoped that eCOTS will be a forum where statistics educators from around the world can network and connect as they learn how to incorporate new ideas, methods, and resources into their existing courses or programs. The registration fee for attending eCOTS will be $15.

The format of the conference will be as follows. On May 14-16, there will be 20 to 30 minute webinars by invited session leaders arising from this call for proposals. There will be approximately four of these webinars each day. Conference registrants are encouraged to attend the webinars as they are underway to ask questions and interact with the session's activities and other conference attendees. To ensure that all conference registrants can listen to webinars that they may have missed earlier in the week, the webinars will be recorded and available to registrants for review by May 17th. There will also be some virtual workshops for registrants to attend on May 17th that may each run for up to two hours. On May 18th, along with keynote presentations, the session leaders from each of the webinars will be arranged into panels--each focusing on one of the conference themes--and conference registrants can engage in question-and-answer sessions with each panel.

There will also be a virtual "poster" session as a part of this conference. Individuals who wish to share posters will be asked--the week prior to the conference--to record short webinars that describe their work (up to 5 minutes in length) with no more than 10 slides within the webinar. Once all posters are recorded in this way, they will be placed in an area where conference registrants can view them and ask questions or make comments throughout the week. Poster presenters will be encouraged to check back throughout the week and respond to any questions/comments about their work.

We are currently seeking proposals for both presentation sessions and posters that will address one of three key themes (listed below). Note that presentation sessions should address one the three themes but posters do not have to align exactly with themes (as long as they relate in some way to the teaching and/or learning of statistics at the college level). When submitting a proposal, presentation session leaders should indicate what theme they are addressing and how they will attempt to create a dynamic presentation that will go beyond simply sharing information. Just as break-out sessions at USCOTS involve much activity and discussion, it is hoped the webinars through eCOTS will also be opportunities for audience engagement.

1. Teaching Statistics: Debating some of the Big Ideas

   This theme will consist of a series of sessions--each with at least two presenters--where different "big ideas" about teaching statistics are debated. Possible big ideas might include things like online teaching versus face-to-face teaching, lecture versus active learning, topics to include in the course versus topics to exclude, randomization-based methods versus traditional methods, etc.. The possibilities here are endless!

2. Statistics for the Modern Student

   This theme will consist of a series of sessions about ways to motivate and engage our modern students who have grown up embedded in the digital age of big data, social media, and international connectivity. For example, how might the GAISE recommendations need to change in light of advances in technology or in light of what students now know coming into our courses about things like data? Can we use social media effectively in the teaching of statistics? What kinds of data sets and activities might appeal to the modern student? What kinds of challenges do the "modern students" pose?

3. Reaching Out and Building Relationships Beyond the College Statistics Classroom

   This theme will consist of a series of sessions that focus on ways college statistics educators can make connections beyond their classrooms that will not only enrich their own teaching but will also be beneficial to other communities. Have you connected in meaningful ways with K-12 educators, or with Two-Year College instructors? Have you worked with colleagues in other disciplines (e.g., Business, Biology, Psychology, Nursing) to develop courses for specific groups of students? Do you or your college-level statistics students engage in activities such as statistical consulting, local science fairs, or service learning?

All proposals must be submitted online using the form found below. Submissions will be accepted through February 15, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Each proposal will be reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers, and all individuals who submit proposals will receive feedback about whether or not the proposal has been accepted for presentation by March 1, 2012. If you have any questions about this call for proposals, please contact Michelle Everson at gaddy001@umn.edu.

Dates and Deadlines

November 15, 2011	Submission of proposals period opens
February 15, 2012	Submission of proposals period ends
March 1, 2012	Notifications made for all submitted proposals; Conference registration opens
March 15, 2012	Deadline for presenters to confirm participation
April 15, 2012	Deadline for presenters to submit slides for webinars
May 14, 2012	Conference begins
May 18, 2012	Conference ends

Proposal Information

Please enter the title of your presentation, description of the presentation, format, and theme.

Presentation title:

Description:

(Please provide a short abstract. For session proposals, also provide specific information about how the presenter(s) will engage the audience and what the presenter(s) hope the audience will take away from the presentation)

Format:
Session proposal
Poster

Theme: Teaching Statistics: Debating some of the Big Ideas Statistics for the Modern Student Reaching Out and Building Relationships Beyond the College Statistics Classroom

Contact information
Name:
Institution:
Email:

Posters should be designed as 5-minute (maximum) presentations. Full sessions should be designed as up to 30 minutes of activities and discussion (including no more than 10 minutes of presentation).

URL: