RSSCSE launch event in the Rolle building at the University of Plymouth

"Thought provoking, interesting and enjoyable, an excellent week!"

To mark the occasion of the relocation of the Royal Statistical Society Centre for Statistical Education (RSSCSE) to the University of Plymouth in August, the RSSCSE and the University hosted a series of statistical education workshops during November 2009. These were for discussing ways to improve statistical education in the workplace, schools and Higher Education - and there was one day concerned with software for improving statistical education. The main launch celebration was on the afternoon of Friday 20 November. This was jointly organised by the RSS General Applications Section (GAS) and the RSS South West Local Group.

For information on, and videos of the presentations on the relaunch afternoon, summaries of the four days of workshops, individual resources and additional notes please click 'read more' below.

The RSSCSE

Established in 1995, the RSSCSE was hosted by the University of Nottingham until July 1999. From August 1999 until July 2009 its home was at Nottingham Trent University. There it enjoyed an expansion of its activities and has become nationally and internationally recognised for its work in promoting the improvement of statistical education in schools, higher education and the workplace.

In August 2009, through a contract of affiliation between the University of Plymouth (UoP), the Royal Statistical Society, the Office for National Statistics, Minitab Ltd and the Welsh awarding body WJEC, the RSSCSE moved into its new home in the Faculty of Education at the UoP. To mark the launch of the RSSCSE at Plymouth, four days of workshops were held from 16 - 19 November and a formal opening meeting was held on Friday 20 November.

The Official Launch

In the afternoon of the Friday 20 November the official launch ceremony took place in the Faculty of Education at the University of Plymouth. Over 60 colleagues and visitors were treated to a very entertaining set of talks, chaired by Julian Stander.

The speakers were:

Professor Mary Watkins, Deputy Vice Chancellor, UoP, Welcoming address;
Will McBurnie, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Education, UoP, Opening Address.
Professor David Hand (President of the RSS), The RSS Perspective;
Professor David Spiegelhalter (Cambridge University), Education about Risk and Uncertainty;
Professor Adrian Bowman (University of Glasgow), Statistical cartoons: the role of graphics in understanding statistics;
Professor Neville Davies (Royal Statistical Society Centre for Statistical Education) The Next Five Years.

Pictured from left to right below: Adrian Bowman, David Spiegelhalter, Will McBurnie, David Hand, Julian Stander, Ken and Wendy Foster, Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Plymouth and Neville Davies.

Will McBurnie welcomed colleagues on behalf of the Faculty of Education and Mary Watkins welcomed colleagues on behalf of the Vice Chancellor.

View the welcoming addresses

David Hand illustrated the breadth of insight in statistical understanding that can be achieved through a series of vignettes, ranging from simple graphics to deep philosophical ideas.

View the presentation by David Hand

David Spiegelhalter discussed risk and uncertainty and questioned whether there should be education about risk and uncertainty, what it should aim to do, where it might fit in the curriculum and what it might comprise. His talk was illustrated with the excellent Flash-based interactive graphical software that he and his team at Cambridge have developed.

View the presentation by David Spiegelhalter

Adrian Bowman put ‘cartoons’ into a new light by showing how animated and interactive graphics can help with the understanding of statistical ideas at all levels. The aim of interaction is to give students a means of exploring concepts until they are comfortable with their roles, while the ability to animate adds an extra dimension which can often spark additional interest - and which can sometimes even raise a welcome smile!

View the presentation by Adrian Bowman

The attentive audience were often seen to be smiling and laughing at several times during all three talks, such was the level of engagement between the speakers and the audience - to their obvious enjoyment!

Finally, to round off the week, Neville Davies reviewed the present status of the RSSCSE, paying tribute to the originators of the idea of promoting statistical education in the UK. These are Vic Barnett, Peter Holmes and Warren Gilchrist. Warren was present on the Thursday and Friday.

Neville outlined the RSSCSE strategy for the next five years. This involves expanding its AtSchool projects through gaining extra funding and broadening its scope to include a range of sports and other curriculum activities. The RSSCSE’s new relationship with the Welsh awarding body, WJEC, promises to help influence professional development for schoolteachers, not just in Wales, but across the whole of the UK.

The new RSS-accredited Certificate in Teaching Statistics up to Pre-university Level will be launched in 2010 and it has already received its first applicants. For higher education he spoke warmly about continued work with the Higher Education Academy Maths, Stats and OR Network. This is a relationship that has lasted 10 years and has been particularly fruitful. Training in the workplace, through expanding train-the-trainers courses in Africa and beyond, accreditation of provision of statistics in overseas universities and engaging with the needs of employers in the UK are set to be key activities over the next five years.

He completed the presentation by formally thanking all colleagues, friends and relatives that had travelled to Plymouth to contribute to and take part in the week’s activities.

View the presentation by Neville Davies

Following the presentations, a reception was held in the Rolle Building.

Four Days of Workshops

Prior to the relaunch meeting, the RSSCSE hosted four days of workshops that considered current and new ways to promote improvement in statistical education for people of all ages:

To view each day's workshop activities and the related resources, use the links above or on the left-hand menu under 'Resources' and 'Statistical Education Week'. If you require any additional information on the week's events please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it