This paper is from Session 6H: Post-secondary Conceptions of Probability
which comes under Topic 6: Innovations in teaching probability
Paper 6H2 (Monday 9th, 16:00-17:30)
The Problem with Deciding if Order Matters
Presenter
- Egan Chernoff (University of Saskatchewan, Canada)
Co-author
- Gale Russell (University of Regina, Canada)
Abstract
Does order matter? Such a simple question, yet students (teachers, and others) continue to struggle with deciding whether a probability or combinatorics problem involves permutations or combinations. This paper discusses findings from an ongoing study of pre-service secondary teachers (majoring or minoring in mathematics) who were given two related problems: determining the number of three-cube high towers possible when using only two colours of cubes and the Jane and Dianne Task (Chernoff & Russell, 2012). The question “Does order matter?” became problematized within this study when the participants used this question to interpret how they read the three-child family problem. What follows is a discussion of these two tasks and this specific question.