Data skills in schools : teaching statistics

In Scotland, numeracy across learning has been emphasised as a key area of the Curriculum for Excellence to provide learners with essential analytic, problem-solving and decision-making skills. The Statistics Award was developed in collaboration with the Scottish Qualifications Authority and the University of Strathclyde in an attempt to provide an opportunity for young people to learn these skills. The emphasis of the course is on the application of statistics to real-life data and interpretation of results in an appropriate context. Minitab or R Studio are used for the analysis of data with learning skills focussed on the application of appropriate statistical methodology and clear interpretation of results in the context of the research question of interest. Support materials for teachers and students have been developed including online resources funded by the Nuffield Foundation’s Q-Step programme