| July 19, 2006 | Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST) | NSW84/2006 |
Students tap into CensusAtSchool
Students from 2732 schools nationwide have recently completed the questionnaire stage of the CensusAtSchool project.
Now, the data gathered from that questionnaire is ready to be used. Starting this week, 750 NSW schools involved in the project will begin progressively tapping into the data, for uses that are both educational and fun.
CensusAtSchool is an online learning experience conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). It shows students from Years 5 to 12 how statistics can be relevant to them.
The Director of Census in New South Wales, Sue Phillips indicated that the ABS was delighted with the response from both the public and independent schools sectors.
“CensusAtSchool aims to increase statistical literacy amongst students and open their minds to the possibility of future careers in statistics. It has the strong backing of both public and private educational bodies in NSW,” she said.
“School students from across Australia have built up a statistical base by filling in a questionnaire online at the ABS CensusAtSchool website.
“Just like a real Census, students answered a set of questions about themselves. The questions dealt with things such as height, what a student had for breakfast, their favourite music and the like,” Ms Phillips said.
Students can access the data to make comparisons between themselves and other sets of students in different parts of Australia.
They can compare how they are alike and how they differ.
As with the national Census, no one can be identified from this data and strict internet security is in place.
It is also a way of highlighting the importance of the 2006 Census, fast approaching on Tuesday 8 August.
Print Page
Print All