The challenge of theaching and learning statistics in tertiary education

Abstract

Taking into account quantitative, informatics, and technological demands by which
postmodern society is faced, it is not surprising that there exists an increased interest in the discipline
called teaching statistics. Statistics instructors and teachers in higher education encounter lots of
obstacles while trying to teach their students how to upgrade their current base of knowledge, as well as
to develop skills and competencies in this field. On the other hand, students face a great deal of problems
while learning statistics, doing their assignments as well as taking exams in statistics. The main aim of
this article is to provide a review of findings related to statistics teachers' skills, competencies, and
knowledge along with those linked to students' motivation, personality, and attitudes. The subsequent
group of aims includes giving some directions on how to improve teaching techniques and teaching
materials in order to achieve better learning outcomes with regard to statistics. The following four,
relatively new teaching approaches, were presented too: problem-based learning, anchored instruction,
cognitive apprenticeship, and situated learning.