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November 2007 CensusAtSchool Newsletter - Edition No. 22 | |
Contents
The 2008 CensusAtSchool Project Begins!
Register now!
Teachers have their say about CensusAtSchool
A Profile of Australian Students using CensusAtSchool Data
5 Reasons to get involved in CensusAtSchool 2008
The 2008 CensusAtSchool Project Begins!
The 2008 CensusAtSchool is officially under way. Following the remarkable success of the project in 2006, the Australian Bureau of Statistics brings you the second run of this engaging, innovative resource for primary and secondary students. For the first time, the 2008 questionnaire will include an international component with 11 questions common to participating countries, namely UK, Canada and New Zealand. Additionally, the data collected from 2008 CensusAtSchool will provide a fantastic opportunity for time series analysis and comparability with the 2006 CensusAtSchool data pool.
 You will now have the ability to extend the analysis in your classroom to investigate responses from around the globe and explore how responses have changed over time. What patterns are emerging? How have student attitudes towards the environment, for example, changed since 2006?
According to an online survey about the 2006 project, teachers agreed that CensusAtSchool resource materials are ideally suited for use within their school curriculum requirements from Year 5 to Year 12. In over 50% of classes, the students' appreciation for reliable data and their understanding of how to analyse it were also improved. Other responses have indicated that in a significant number of classes -
"CensusAtSchool improved the students' understanding of using data in an investigation and increased their engagement in tasks using statistics".
All users were enthusiastic about its future use in their schools. Read on to find out more about what's new in 2008 and how your school can be involved. |
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| Register now! |
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Look out for the CensusAtSchool Information Packs that will be sent out to your school Principal over the next few weeks. These will include the registration form required to participate in the 2008 CenususAtSchool project. If your school did not participate in 2006 then simply complete the registration form and send or fax it back to the CensusAtSchool team. Once registered, you will be able to set-up an online CensusAtSchool account, ready for your students to complete the online questionnaire in 2008. Alternatively, you can download a registration form now from the Project Support Materials page. For those schools who participated last year, there is no need to register again. However, teachers will need to set up a new account using their school participation number. If you do not know your school participation number, contact the CensusAtSchool team on 1800 623 273 or drop us an email to censusatschool@abs.gov.au.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics Education Services team has been undertaking a review of the questionnaire to bring some exciting twists in 2008. A common set of international questions will further broaden the scope and variability of the data to be used in student investigations and problem solving. Additionally, expect some new questions in the 2008 questionnaire, offering more possibilities for classroom activities.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics encourages all schools to participate in this innovative project to ensure Australian students make the most of a rich pool of real, raw data. Don't miss out on the opportunity to make your school part of the data in 2008 - register now! |
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Teachers have their say about CensusAtSchool
CensusAtSchool aims to improve national statistical literacy and has been designed to engage and personally involve students. See what schools are saying about the project...
"We are a small school with 8 senior students participating in the project. They have all done their questionnaire. Very easy for us as they all have a laptop. We did it as part of their reading. The project fits well with the Quality Teaching Framework for NSW schools." - Sue Hobbs, Bungwahl Primary School Principal
"The response timed activity and the measurement of height were a particular favourite as they were practical" - Melanie Corner, previously at Middle Harbour Public School.
" [the students] appreciated the opportunity to use real 'live' data in their studies." - Christopher Meadows, Westside Christian College School Principal
“I am particularly impressed with the professional development accompanying the CensusAtSchool project. It is pleasing to see that schools outside Brisbane are catered for." - Don Miller, Mercy College Qld
"Being able to get my students to take large samples of real data has made the teaching of the statistical techniques for comparison (calculation of mean, standard deviation, median, quartiles, etc; graphing of stem plots, histograms, box plots, etc; discussion of outliers and so on) much more meaningful and interesting to students" - Annette Johnston, Kangaroo Island Community Education - Kingscote Campus.
“I have a student, Bradley, whom I found after school, on the computer, in the semi dark, in the computer room, trying to find yet another way to make a chart to show languages spoken in the home. He is really keen.” - Ann Martin, Bambara Primary School WA
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If you would like to provide us with feedback about how CensusAtSchool is impacting your school, send email to censusatschool@abs.gov.au.
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A Profile of Australian students using 2006 CensusAtSchool data
In 2006, 112,173 students across Australia submitted their responses to the CensusAtSchool questionnaire. Want to know more about them? Here are some interesting facts:
- 90% were born in Australia, and 54% were females 82% were right-handed, 10% left-hand and 8% ambidextrous
- 85% had a pet, most common being a dog (60%), least common a mouse (3%)
- Favourite takeaway food was pizza (55%), followed by hamburgers (44%)
- Favourite type of music included rap/hip hop (63%) and rock'n'roll (57%)
- 95% had access to a TV, 86% to a computer, 79% to a mobile phone and 61% to a personal MP3 player
- It took them an average of 19 minutes to travel to school
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5 Reasons to get involved with CensusAtSchool 2008
Just in case you're not downloading the registration form yet, here are 5 more reasons why CensusAtSchool is an excellent, high quality resource for students right across the curricula...!
1. Improves statistical literacy to equip students for informed decision making in the future
2. Teachers valued the resource because it succeeded to engage students in the classroom
3. Allows teacher to make effective and practical use of ICT in the classroom.
4. A flexible resource that can be applied across many different subject areas.
5. In 45% of classes the students better appreciated the nature and meaning of statistical concepts and terminology. |
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| If you have any questions or general CensusAtSchool project enquiries, please contact ABS Education Services, CensusAtSchool Team by email censusatschool@abs.gov.au or on free call 1800 623 273 between 9:00am and 5:00pm (AEST) Monday to Friday. |  |
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