title: A four-stage framework for assessing statistical literacy

authors: Sharma, Sashi

abstract: Despite statistical literacy being relatively new in statistics education research, it needs special attention as attempts are being made to enhance the teaching, learning and assessing of this strand. It is important that teachers are aware of the challenges of teaching and assessing of literacy. The growing importance of statistics in today’s information world and conceptions of statistical literacy are outlined and models for developing statistical literacy from research literature are considered. A four-stage framework for assessing statistical literacy from our design research is proposed. Responses to tasks used in our research are provided to explain the levels of thinking and the article concludes with some implications for practice and research.

text: A four-stage framework for assessing statistical literacy Despite statistical literacy being relatively new in statistics education research, it needs special attention as attempts are being made to enhance the teaching, learning and assessing of this strand. It is important that teachers are aware of the challenges of teaching and assessing of literacy. The growing importance of statistics in today’s information world and conceptions of statistical literacy are outlined and models for developing statistical literacy from research literature are considered. A four-stage framework for assessing statistical literacy from our design research is proposed. Responses to tasks used in our research are provided to explain the levels of thinking and the article concludes with some implications for practice and research.

year: 2012

title: Exploring Fijian high school students’ conceptions of averages

authors: Sharma, Sashi

subjects: education

abstract: This paper focuses on part of a much larger study that explored form five (14 to 16 year-old) students’ ideas in statistics. A range of ideas was explored, including the students’ ideas about measures of centre and graphical representations. Students’ ideas about measures of centre were analysed and categories of responses identified. While students could compute mean and median, they were less competent with tasks that involved constructing meanings for averages. This could be due to an emphasis in the classroom on developing procedural knowledge or to linguistic and contextual problems. Some students used strategies based on prior school and everyday experiences. The paper concludes by suggesting some implications for mathematics education.

text: Exploring Fijian high school students’ conceptions of averages This paper focuses on part of a much larger study that explored form five (14 to 16 year-old) students’ ideas in statistics. A range of ideas was explored, including the students’ ideas about measures of centre and graphical representations. Students’ ideas about measures of centre were analysed and categories of responses identified. While students could compute mean and median, they were less competent with tasks that involved constructing meanings for averages. This could be due to an emphasis in the classroom on developing procedural knowledge or to linguistic and contextual problems. Some students used strategies based on prior school and everyday experiences. The paper concludes by suggesting some implications for mathematics education.

year: 2008

title: Addiction Phenomenology In Substance Use  And Non-Substance Use Disorders

authors: McLachlan, Andre David

subjects: Addiction

abstract: There is growing research evidence and public concern over the burgeoning of disorders which share common features with substance addictions. In order to investigate the presence and role of addiction features in disorders outside of substance addictions, symptoms of addiction were explored within three addiction groups: alcohol dependence (AD), an established addiction (n = 24); pathological gambling (PG) a disorder with growing empirical support as an addiction (n = 20); and compulsive shopping (CS), a proposed 'novel' addiction(n = 20).
Participants were recruited from either the general population, or from the Auckland Salvation Army Bridge residential alcohol and drug treatment programme; Salvation Army Oasis Gambling Service; Pacific Peoples Addiction Service Incorporated; or Te Kahui Hauora O Ngati Koata Trust. Participants completed a battery of self-report measures comprising a demographics questionnaire; Addictive Disorder Questionnaire (ADQ); anxiety and depression subscales of the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90R); Barratt Impulsivity Scale II-r; and substance specific adaptations of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS).
Three general categories of addiction symptoms: physiological, salience and dyscontrol, were identified as broad aspects of addiction, common across all three groups. Measurable aspects of addiction, including impulsivity, obsessions, anxiety and depression were found to be endorsed similarly across the three addictions, irrespective of the severity of their addiction. Compulsions were found to be higher in the AD group. Higher anxiety was found to be correlated with higher addiction in the behavioural addictions (CS and PG), whereas depression and anxiety were associated with higher addiction severity in the AD group.
The results provide support for broadening addiction diagnostic definitions, to be more encompassing of the psychological and physiological experiences of each symptom; and developing different diagnostic categories for non-substance addictions that reflect the severity of the addiction. Results also provide evidence for developmental phases of addiction, from an early 'hedonistic' impulsive phase, to a compulsive phase, in which increased dyscontrol, mood and anxiety, marks the severity of the addiction.

text: Addiction Phenomenology In Substance Use  And Non-Substance Use Disorders There is growing research evidence and public concern over the burgeoning of disorders which share common features with substance addictions. In order to investigate the presence and role of addiction features in disorders outside of substance addictions, symptoms of addiction were explored within three addiction groups: alcohol dependence (AD), an established addiction (n = 24); pathological gambling (PG) a disorder with growing empirical support as an addiction (n = 20); and compulsive shopping (CS), a proposed 'novel' addiction(n = 20).
Participants were recruited from either the general population, or from the Auckland Salvation Army Bridge residential alcohol and drug treatment programme; Salvation Army Oasis Gambling Service; Pacific Peoples Addiction Service Incorporated; or Te Kahui Hauora O Ngati Koata Trust. Participants completed a battery of self-report measures comprising a demographics questionnaire; Addictive Disorder Questionnaire (ADQ); anxiety and depression subscales of the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90R); Barratt Impulsivity Scale II-r; and substance specific adaptations of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS).
Three general categories of addiction symptoms: physiological, salience and dyscontrol, were identified as broad aspects of addiction, common across all three groups. Measurable aspects of addiction, including impulsivity, obsessions, anxiety and depression were found to be endorsed similarly across the three addictions, irrespective of the severity of their addiction. Compulsions were found to be higher in the AD group. Higher anxiety was found to be correlated with higher addiction in the behavioural addictions (CS and PG), whereas depression and anxiety were associated with higher addiction severity in the AD group.
The results provide support for broadening addiction diagnostic definitions, to be more encompassing of the psychological and physiological experiences of each symptom; and developing different diagnostic categories for non-substance addictions that reflect the severity of the addiction. Results also provide evidence for developmental phases of addiction, from an early 'hedonistic' impulsive phase, to a compulsive phase, in which increased dyscontrol, mood and anxiety, marks the severity of the addiction.

year: 2008