This paper is from Session 8A: Research on developing students’ statistical reasoning in primary and middle school

which comes under Topic 8: Research in statistics education

Other papers under session 8A ... 8A1: Developing primary students’ ability to pose questions in... 8A3: Emergence of reasoning about sampling among young students in the... 8A4: Developing statistical reasoning facilitated by TinkerPlots

(Monday 12th, 14:00-16:00)

How students’ spontaneous use of statistical tools shapes their thinking about precision

Presenter

• Rich Lehrer (Vanderbilt University, United States)

Co-authors

• Min-Joung Kim (Vanderbilt University, United States)
• Cliff Konold (University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States)

Abstract

We describe transitions in students’ conceptions of variability as they invented and revised a measure (statistic) of the precision of a collection of repeated measurements of a length. Our analysis highlights the role played by mediating agents (peers, teachers) and tools (TinkerPlots) in fostering transitions in students’ conceptions. We present two cases of student invention to illuminate how invention supported reasoning about multiple senses of variability and how these multiple senses were aligned in classroom conversations. We conclude by considering the role that TinkerPlots functions and representations played in spurring new lines of thought and in grounding conversations among students about the important representational characteristics of the measures they invented.

Other papers under session 8A ... 8A1: Developing primary students’ ability to pose questions in... 8A3: Emergence of reasoning about sampling among young students in the... 8A4: Developing statistical reasoning facilitated by TinkerPlots