This paper is from Session 3A: Professional development of teachers

which comes under Topic 3: Learning to teach statistics

Other papers under session 3A ... 3A1: Tools for fostering and guiding the statistics teachers’ reflection... 3A2: Statistics teacher of the new era: another specialized mathematician... 3A3: Teaching primary teachers to teach statistical investigations: the...

(Thursday 15th, 14:00-16:00)

Training in-service teachers to develop statistical thinking

Presenter

• Ana Luisa Gómez Blancarte (National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico)

Co-author

• Ernesto Sánchez (National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico)

Abstract

This paper describes the acquisition of statistical thinking by five in-service middle school teachers during a professional development course and the difficulties they encountered. The main activities of teachers were to plan, teach and analyze classroom lessons that would promote and enhance their students’ statistical thinking. The question then is: “How do teachers develop statistical thinking by means of designing and implementing classroom activities to promote it in their students?” Teachers attended a three-year professional development project. In the first year, they studied basic concepts of statistics. In the second, they planned and implemented a lesson, with the principal goal of developing their students’ statistical thinking. The topics of the lesson were graphs and arithmetic mean. In the third year, the lesson was reviewed, improved, and implemented again. Wild & Pfannkuch’s (1999) model was used as a guide in this study.

Other papers under session 3A ... 3A1: Tools for fostering and guiding the statistics teachers’ reflection... 3A2: Statistics teacher of the new era: another specialized mathematician... 3A3: Teaching primary teachers to teach statistical investigations: the...