Trends in Teaching Advanced Placement Statistics: Results from a National Survey

Figures & data

Table 1 Hours in prior two years on type of professional development in teaching statistics.

	Mean and standard deviation for hours of professional development by sections taught of ap statistics
	0–2 (n = 44)	3–9 (n = 156)	10–20 (n = 125)	>20 (n = 59)
Live or prerecorded webinars	4.5 (12.3)	3.8 (10.2)	4.1 (7.1)	2.5 (4.4)
Workshops	10.3 (21.4)	10.9 (19.7)	10.7 (16.0)	7.8 (9.2)
In-person short courses/mini-courses	4.0 (11.6)	2.4 (7.5)	2.0 (5.9)	2.4 (5.5)
Online professional development course	4.7 (12.8)	4.2 (10.0)	5.4 (18.3)	1.6 (4.8)
AP Statistics summer institute	25.3 (27.9)	14.9 (21.7)	7.7 (15.9)	8.1 (21.5)
AP Statistics exam reader	0.2 (1.2)	12.4 (32.0)	35.6 (47.8)	44.5 (50.0)
Other	2.7 (17.9)	1.2 (7.7)	3.7 (16.4)	4.9 (20.5)
Total number of hours reported	51.7 (59.3)	49.8 (55.6)	69.2 (60.7)	71.8 (63.3)

Table 2 Use of professional learning resources for teaching statistics.

		Percent of Teachers
	Sections Taught of AP Statistics	Never heard of it (%)	Aware but never used (%)	Used once once (%)	Occasional use (%)	Frequent use (%)
Mathematics Teacher (NCTM Journal)	0-2	12	21	21	44	2
	3-9	4	26	35	29	6
	10–20	2	26	26	37	10
	>20	3	25	32	34	5
	All teachers	4	26	30	34	7
Journal of Statistics Education (JSE)	0–2	37	51	12
	3–9	37	43	15	5	1
	10–20	22	48	12	18	1
	>20	24	47	14	14	2
	All teachers	30	46	13	10	1
Statistics Teacher Journal at ASA	0–2	43	48	7		2
	3–9	48	28	8	13	3
	10–20	19	44	14	18	4
	>20	22	34	20	22	2
	All teachers	34	36	12	15	3
Statistics Education Web (STEW)online lesson plans	0–2	55	29	10	7
	3–9	45	27	11	13	4
	10–20	30	38	14	16	2
	>20	34	34	15	17
	All teachers	39	32	13	14	2
CAUSEweb	0–2	71	21	5	2
	3–9	74	14	6	6	1
	10–20	50	22	11	14	2
	>20	49	24	10	17
	All teachers	62	19	8	10	1
STATS4STEM	0–2	73	13	15
	3–9	58	21	8	11	1
	10–20	45	20	14	16	6
	>20	49	31	8	10	2
	All teachers	54	21	11	12	3
AP Statistics online teacher community	0–2	14	12	14	26	33
	3–9	5	13	8	38	37
	10–20	1	6	9	37	48
	>20	3	3	14	37	42
	All teachers	4	9	10	36	41

Table 3 AP Statistics teachers’ beliefs about teaching, learning and assessment of statistics.

	Percent of Teachers
	Strongly disagree					Strongly agree
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
Teaching and learning statistics beliefs
Students should learn fewer topics in greater depth instead of learning more topics in less depth in an introductory statistics course.	2%	8%	19%	30%	27%	15%
Basic rules of probability should be included in an introductory statistics course.	1%	2%	6%	20%	48%	25%
The topic of theoretical probability distributions (e.g., the binomial distribution) should be included in an introductory statistics course.	1%	5%	6%	21%	43%	24%
Students should learn how to read statistical tables of probability distributions (e.g., t-table, z-table).	4%	10%	10%	23%	27%	26%
Students should learn the importance of using appropriate methods for collecting data.	<1%	0%	<1%	6%	33%	61%
Students should learn connections between the quality/nature of the data and inferences that are made.	0%	<1%	1%	7%	37%	55%
Technology tools should be used to illustrate most abstract statistical concepts.	0%	1%	2%	26%	44%	27%
Students should analyze data primarily using technology.	1%	3%	10%	32%	37%	18%
Lectures should be the primary way for students to learn statistical content.	10%	19%	37%	26%	6%	1%
Assessment beliefs
Quizzes and exams should be used as the primary way to evaluate student learning.	1%	9%	22%	44%	21%	3%
Alternative assessments (e.g., projects, presentations) should be used to provide important information about student learning.	<1%	1%	3%	42%	42%	12%
All assessments should be regularly reviewed to see that they are aligned with student learning goals.	0%	1%	2%	13%	49%	36%
Formative feedback should be given on all assessments in order for students to improve their learning.	0%	<1%	1%	10%	44%	44%
Students should be assessed on their ability to complete an open- ended statistical problem.	0%	2%	<1%	10%	43%	45%
Students should be assessed on their statistical literacy (e.g., ability to read a graph, understand common statistical words, etc.).	0%	0%	<1%	4%	41%	55%
Course and instructor development beliefs
Statistics courses should be updated continually to keep up with advances in technology.	0%	1%	3%	17%	46%	33%
Statistics courses should be updated continually in response to recommendations such as Common Core.	5%	12%	20%	31%	22%	10%
Statistics instructors should be actively engaged in the statistics education community.	1%	0%	4%	21%	42%	32%

Table 4 Teachers’ extent of agreement to aspects of an AP statistics course.

	Percent of teachers (n = 444)
	Strongly disagree					Strongly agree
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
The content was presented mostly through lectures.	3%	9%	11%	34%	32%	10%
The instructor asked challenging questions that made students think.	0%	0%	2%	20%	57%	20%
The course frequently required students to work together.	1%	2%	7%	26%	42%	22%
The content was presented mostly through activities.	3%	12%	28%	39%	12%	5%
This course encouraged students to discover ideas on their own.	1%	9%	23%	47%	18%	2%
Students use graphing calculators regularly in this course.	1%	0%	1%	6%	23%	68%
This course often used technology other than calculators to help students understand concepts.	7%	17%	21%	31%	18%	5%

Table 5 Time spent preparing students for different aspects of statistical practice.

	Percent of teachers (n = 426)
How much time in your course is spent on preparing students to …	None (%)	A little (%)	Moderate amount (%)	A lot (%)
…become critical consumers of statistically-based results reported in popular media?	3	43	42	13
…recognize questions for which the investigative process in statistics would be useful?	1	28	53	17
…answer questions using the investigative process?	2	20	51	27
…produce and interpret graphical displays and numerical summaries?	1	14	50	36
…explain the central role of variability in the field of statistics?	1	17	53	29
…explain the central role of randomness in designing studies and drawing conclusions?	0	11	56	32
…gain experience with how statistical models, including multivariable models, are used?	7	40	40	13
…understand and use basic ideas of statistical inference?	0	1	32	67
…interpret and draw conclusions from output from statistical software packages?	5	42	41	12
…be aware of ethical issues associated with sound statistical practice?	4	57	31	8

Table 6 Time spent assessing students’ abilities in various aspects of statistics.

	Percent of teachers (n = 426)
	None (%)	A little (%)	Moderate amount (%)	A lot (%)
Students’ ability to use formulas to produce numerical summaries of a dataset	3	41	40	17
Students’ ability to perform step-by-step calculations to compute answers to problems	4	46	35	16
Students’ ability to critically examine statistics in the media	10	51	30	9
Students’ ability to interpret results of a statistical analysis	0	3	36	61
Students’ ability to reason correctly about important statistical concepts	0	2	32	66
Students’ ability to successfully complete an entire statistical investigation (all four phases: posing a question, collecting data, analyzing data, and interpreting results)	5	32	34	29
Students’ ability to answer questions similar to those found on the AP Exam (e.g., using released exam questions for assessment)	1	2	24	74

Table 7 How technology tools are used by AP statistics teachers.

	Of those that use a tool, percent and number of teachers indicating use
	Students use during assignments activities and assignments	Students use during assessment	Teacher uses to deliver course content	Percent and number teachers not using tool
Graphing calculator with built- in statistical functions	96% (n = 396)	94% (n = 389)	88% (n = 364)	0% (n = 0)
Statistical software packages (e.g., Minitab, R, SPSS, JMP, StatCrunch…)	23% (n = 91)	7% (n = 27)	45% (n = 179)	50% (n = 201)
Spreadsheet tools (e.g., Excel, Google Sheets)	50% (n = 205)	6% (n = 25)	49% (n = 197)	34% (n = 137)
Web Applets (e.g., StatKey, Rossman/Chance)	52% (n = 213)	3% (n = 13)	67% (n = 275)	24% (n = 100)
Educational software (e.g., TinkerPlots, Fathom, CODAP)	11% (n = 43)	1% (n = 3)	32% (n = 128)	65% (n = 263)
Multimedia materials (e.g., ActivStats, Against All Odds, CyberStats, videos of mini-lectures or real world uses of statistics)	30% (n = 121)	1% (n = 5)	58% (n = 235)	35% (n = 143)
Collaboration tools (e.g., Google Docs)	65% (n = 266)	7% (n = 28)	39% (n = 159)	30% (n = 123)
Online statistics homework, tutorial, or assessment tools (e.g., WebAssign, MyStatLab)	30% (n = 120)	6% (n = 23)	13% (n = 52)	67% (n = 267)
Other assessment tools (e.g., Kahoot, Quizlet)	45% (n = 183)	9% (n = 36)	36% (n = 144)	41% (n = 164)