Competition encourages fun with statistics

A competition run by the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is getting school students out of the classroom riding motorbikes, watching advertisements and listening to music, all in the name of statistics.

130 teams of students took part in this year's School Statistics Poster Competition which aims to increase students' interest in statistics.

Co-organiser of the competition Senior Lecturer in Statistics at USQ Dr Peter Dunn said the competition was a way of making statistics fun and interesting for school students.

'We wanted to expose statistics to students in a fun way. They get to choose their project and it can be anything they like within the competition guidelines,' Dr Dunn said.

'They are in their maths class but they can get out of the classroom and do some fun and different things.

'They also do teamwork as the competition requires students to work in teams of two to three.'

The 2007 winners of the senior secondary section from Scots PGC Warwick tested the braking distance of a four-wheeler motorbike. A team from Nanango State High School investigating whether only people under 20 could hear the silent ring tone on mobile phone took out second place.

Winners of the junior secondary section from Nanango State High School looked at the frequency and number of advertisements in two timeslots for different TV stations. Runners up for the section were a team from Harristown SHS looking at the prices of items in different department stores.

The competition had been warmly received by both teachers and students, Dr Dunn said.

'From the teachers that we deal with they've said one of the things they find is that kids really enjoy what they are doing; not just getting out of the classroom but doing something different. Some of the children who were having trouble with mathematics really enjoyed this approach as well.'

The competition has been growing in popularity each year, he said.

'It used to be a regional competition with schools around the Darling Downs taking part but we expanded it to Queensland and last year started going nationally with it.

'Next year it will be run under the banner of the Australian Mathematics Trust which will make things easier as they have the resources and infrastructure in place to make it work nationally.'

Schools choose to participate in the competition which can be integrated into a statistics unit.

'For those who decide to take part they can implement the competition as part of the curriculum for statistics so it doesn't have to be something extra.'

For more information on taking part in the Schools Statistics Poster competition visit the website www.usq.edu.au/statscomp or contact Dr Peter Dunn on (07) 4631 5527 or email dunn@usq.edu.au.

Media Contact: Jane Urquhart USQ Media +61 7 4631 2559