Accompanying today’s release of the 2013 data we have updated CensusAtSchool’s data tools to have the same simple, clean look and feel that we introduced for the rest of the site late last year.
For data-viewer and table-maker the changes the user experiences are purely cosmetic. The way in which settings are chosen in random-sampler has changed and now provides some control of sample sizes from subpopulations.
All data tools now have a prominent “Help” button near the top of the page.
Pakuranga MP and Minister of Statistics Maurice Williamson joined Pakuranga College Year 9 maths students on Monday, May 6 as they got stuck into practical data collection on the first day of the biennial, online educational project CensusAtSchool. The data collection included measuring arm spans, recording height and answering questions such as “what allergies do you have?” and “How long does it usually take you to get to school?”
CensusAtSchool co-director Rachel Cunliffe says more than 530 schools, representing 1102 teachers are running CensusAtSchool in their maths and statistics classes until June 15, after which the data is released for classroom analysis. “Students love taking part in the activities and then, in class with their teachers, becoming “data detectives” to see what stories are in the results – and not just in their own classroom, but across the country.”
Photo: Stephen Barker, www.barkerphotography.co.nz. ©The University of Auckland.
Photo: Stephen Barker, www.barkerphotography.co.nz. ©The University of Auckland.
Photo: Stephen Barker, www.barkerphotography.co.nz. ©The University of Auckland.
Photo: Stephen Barker, www.barkerphotography.co.nz. ©The University of Auckland.
Photo: Stephen Barker, www.barkerphotography.co.nz. ©The University of Auckland.
Photo: Stephen Barker, www.barkerphotography.co.nz. ©The University of Auckland.
Campbell Live filmed Maurice Williamson in the classroom as a part of their story. You can watch the clip here.
Full sized versions of these photographs and others are available for free for media use. Please contact us.
Tuesday, March 5th is the official NZ census.
The census is the official count of how many people and dwellings there are in New Zealand. It takes a snapshot of the people in New Zealand and the places wehre we live. The last census was held in 2006. Census information is needed for planning vital public services such as education, health, housing and transport. It is also used to help understand how our society changes over time.
By law everyone in New Zealand on census day must fill in a census form for the dwelling in which they are staying that evening. Check that your students know this and go home and remind their family members to fill in the form. Alternatively, they can complete their census forms online at http://www.census.govt.nz/
Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand is New Zealand’s national statistical office, collecting and publishing information the country needs to grow and prosper for nearly 120 years. You can find lots of information about New Zealand and New Zealander’s on the Statistics New Zealand website (www.stats.govt.nz), including information about businesses, population, health, and employment.
There are resources available for teachers and students at www.stats.govt.nz/schoolscorner, including the new game, Tere counts the country.
‘Tere the Tui: Tere counts the country’ is a new, free learning game, designed by Statistics New Zealand to help familiarise children with New Zealand statistics as well as statistical terms.
Players answer multi-choice questions about each region of New Zealand, finding answers in the tool Interactive Boundary Maps.
When players have correctly answered a question about each region they can choose to go in the draw to win one of 200 Census branded USB sticks.
Tere counts the country can be played by children in the classroom or at home.
2013 is the International Year of Statistics, a worldwide event supported by nearly 1,700 organizations!
The founding organizations of the International Year of Statistics—also called Statistics2013—are the American Statistical Association, Institute of Mathematical Statistics, International Biometric Society, International Statistical Institute (and the Bernoulli Society), and Royal Statistical Society. As established by the founding organizations, the campaign’s primary objectives are to do the following:
Visit the website, Statistics2013 and promote Statistics as a tool for life (and possibly a career option!).
On December 1, the Wellington Mathematical Association (WMA) and the Department of Statistics ran a special event atTWellington Girls’ College for Year 13 statistics teachers. Find out more about the statistics road tour here.
Some photos from the event are below:
If you went along, we’d love to hear your feedback!
The New Zealand Association of Mathematics Teachers (NZAMT) have set a date for the 2013 biennial conference,
Absolutely Positively Mathematics and Statistics, Wellington Girls’ College,
1st – 4th October 2013.
Have a look at their new conference website for information about presenters, registration and accomodation. Registrations open on the 1st of February 2013.
All teachers of mathematics and statistics, and all workers in mathematics and statistics, are warmly invited to join for four days of being absolutely positive about our learning area.
On November 28, the Otago Mathematical Association (OMA) and the Department of Statistics ran a special event at The University of Otago for Year 13 statistics teachers. Find out more about the statistics road tour here.
Some photos from the event are below:
If you went along, we’d love to hear your feedback!
Today, the Canterbury Mathematical Association (CMA) and the Department of Statistics ran a special event at The University of Canterbury for Year 13 statistics teachers. Find out more about the statistics road tour here.
Some photos from the event are below:
The Auckland Mathematical Association (AMA) and the Department of Statistics ran a special event at The University of Auckland’s Tamaki campus for 350 Year 13 statistics teachers. Statistics Teachers’ Day, on November 22, introduced the teachers to a range of online and interactive tools and resources to support the new statistics curriculum, which starts in the 2013 school year. The workshop will be repeated in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, with local maths associations running each event. Find out more about the statistics road tour here.
See photos and read teachers’ feedback from the day:
Jason Ellwood of Otumoetai College talks bootstrapping at Statistics Teachers’ Day.
Photo: Stephen Barker, www.barkerphotography.co.nz. ©The University of Auckland.
Sharleen Forbes of Victoria University outlines statistics education past, present and future in the plenary session of Statistics Teachers’ Day.
Photo: Stephen Barker, www.barkerphotography.co.nz. ©The University of Auckland.
Simon Webster,
ACG New Zealand International College:
“What stood out for me was the plenary talk by Sharleen Forbes [Adjunct Professor of Official Statistics, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington], which gave us pointers to where things are heading [in statistics]. That appeals to the futurist in me.”
CensusAtSchool NZ is undergoing a major facelift/restructure.
The new website has been redesigned to put teacher needs in the new curricular and assessment environment at the heart of what the site delivers. We aim to be a current, comprehensive, resource bank for the Teaching of Statistics in NZ.
The new website is temporarily situated at https://new.censusatschool.org.nz and coexists with the old website http://www.censusastchool.org.nz until the end of the school year. Over the summer break, once the current census is closed, everything is planned to be transferred over to the new website. Once that’s completed, we’ll just have the new website at www.censusatschool.org.nz.
CensusAtSchool began as website in which students could participate in an online survey and contribute to an international database. Real data can then be analysed and used by schools. Teachers are able to receive their class data and there are a variety of classroom resources available on CensusAtSchool to direct their teaching of statistics.
Statistics has changed significantly in New Zealand over the last few years. As statistical practice has become computer based, there is much less need to be able to calculate statistics manually. Rather, students are being encouraged to consider the context, reason and origin of the data. The focus of assessment has also changed, with NCEA Level 2 being reorganised this year and new Achievement Standards for NCEA Level 3 drafted for next year. We found that teachers all over New Zealand use CensusAtSchool at times so that it is a good place to host and index Statistics resources and professional development.
CensusAtSchool’s website has been completely reorganised, updated and expanded to be a comprehensive and practical resource for teachers.
Everything is now grouped by the curriculum level and achievement standards. For each curriculum level and achievement standard relating to the teaching of statistics, teachers will find: details of the standard, detailed FAQ, vetted activities, resources and links to further their knowledge.
Everything is also now easily printable for teachers to have at their fingertips, along with the ability for them to provide feedback by rating and commenting on resources.
There is now a place to ask a statistics question called FAQ. Teachers can email a question to censusatschoolnz@gmail.com which will be answered carefully by one of a number of ‘experts’ and posted online.
Links to a large number of websites such as NZQA, TKI, Stats NZ, and Stats Chat, means teachers can always find relevant current material, competitions, road shows and articles.
We encourage teachers to contribute resources to the CensusAtSchool website so if you come across something good that we have missed or have any feedback on the new site please email us: censusatschoolnz@gmail.com.
We hope you enjoy using the new website,
Regards
The CensusAtSchool team.
