This unit is called “Seeing Race in Statistics”, and it will be used as the first unit in an introductory statistics course. The base layer of this unit is pedagogical. The goal is to incorporate practices that have been identified to increase equity in the mathematics classroom, particularly for students who have been historically excluded in the dominant conversations about mathematical excellence. The second level is focused on challenging the dominant propositions and undercurrents of power in the study of statistics through lessons that examine the history and role of statistics within our racialized society. Specifically we will scrutinize variables that are accepted as truths and look at their role in shaping our perceptions of data. We will also look at examples of resistance statistics and in doing so, introduce the important work of these resistance mathematicians. Level three is the statistical content. This unit introduces students to the basic notions of data collection and organization. Students will be able to plan a study of a categorical variable and display the data in an appropriate graph. They will identify a variable of interest and think critically about how best they can measure that variable and what unplanned meanings could be inferred from the variable as measured and displayed.
(Developed for Statistics, grades 10-12; recommended for Statistics, grades 10-12)
