12th International Conference on Teaching Statistics

📅 Dates: 7–12 July 2026
📍 Location: Brisbane, Australia

The 12th International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS12), hosted by the International Association for Statistical Education (IASE), invites educators, researchers, and practitioners worldwide to gather in Brisbane, Australia.

We are pleased to publish the International Program Committee (IPC) and Main Topics for ICOTS 12.

An outline of the process for contributions and a timeline are also given below. 

Theme

The theme for ICOTS 12 is What? Who? When? How? Asking questions is fundamental to good statistical practice, including good practice in statistical education, and these questions reach across all facets and contexts of the teaching of statistics and data science. Technology opens doors to tackling more and more complex problems and data, and although there is no magic solution to all the teaching challenges this poses, the statistical and data science education community needs to bring collaborative and collective wisdom, analysis and research to the what, who, when and how. See the full description in About the logo and theme under Downloads on this website.

Venue
The conference will be in an enviable section of the world class Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC), with plenary and breakout rooms in close proximity, and having extensive foyer space with views to South Bank, the river, and pedestrian bridge to the new Queens Wharf precinct and the city centre.

BCEC is in the heart of the South Bank precinct with galleries, theatres, concert halls, museum, 16 hectares of parklands and river walks, and over 90 bars, cafes and restaurants for delegates to enjoy.

Sub-tropical Brisbane is at its sparkling clearest in July, averaging 9-21 °C (40-70 °F), 8 hours daily sun, and 300 mm (1 in) over all July. BCEC is in the city transport hub. Delegates have free inner city ferry and bus, and discounted Airtrain and public transport. Brisbane is easily reached with many direct international flights. It is close to world famous beaches, islands and hinterlands.

There are many accommodation options with over 10,000 rooms within walking distance of the Convention Centre, including hostels, hotels, and self-catering apartments.

Main Topics

• Topic 1: Key issues in the what, who, when, how of statistical education
• Topic 2: Statistics and data education at the school level
• Topic 3: Statistics and data education at the post-secondary level
• Topic 4: New technologies and paradigms in assessment
• Topic 5: Improving teaching and teaching capacity in statistics
• Topic 6: Statistics education across and into disciplines
• Topic 7: Teaching probability and stochastic thinking within statistics
• Topic 8: Training in statistics, data science and emerging technologies forand in workplaces
• Topic 9: New directions in statistics education research
• Topic 10: Growing society-wide statistical, data science and data technological literacy
• Topic 11: Contributed and other topics

Outline of process and draft timeline
Full details are on the ICOTS 12 website.

The first call for abstracts for Main Topic oral presentation papers will appear by 30th November 2024, with submissions due by 31st March 2025.

A Main topic proposal is submitted via the website and consists of a paper title, authors and affiliations, 125-word abstract, and first and second references of the Main Topics. Topic descriptions on the ICOTS 12 website will provide considerable information for authors in choosing their first and second preferences.

All abstracts will be considered by Topic Chairs and Teams, who will organize and name Sessions under the Main Topics 1-10. Authors will be notified by 30th June 2025. An abstract not accepted for a Main Topic 1-10 session may be approved for Topic 11: Contributions and other topics.

Abstracts for Contributed oral presentation papers desiring refereeing are to be submitted by 31st July, 2025. An optional refereeing process is available for all papers.

Due date for papers to be refereed: 30th September, 2025

Papers must be no more than six pages in length, including figures and references. Please use the required ICOTS paper template on the website. Referee reports are to be received by authors by 30th November 2025.

Additional due date for Contributed oral presentation abstracts: 31st December 2025.

A poster proposal is submitted on the website and consists of the poster title, authors and affiliations, and 125-word abstract. Abstract due: 28 February 2026

All accepted abstracts will appear in the Program and in the online Conference Proceedings. For all abstracts accepted for oral presentation, it is recommended but not compulsory to write a paper for the Proceedings. All papers (refereed or non-refereed) accepted for oral presentation will be included in the online Conference Proceedings. Due date for all final papers for the Proceedings: 28th February, 2026.