This paper is from Session 6F: Teachers’ awareness of conceptual connections between probability and statistics

which comes under Topic 6: Innovation and reform in teaching probability within statistics

Challenges for learning about distributions in courses for future Mathematics teachers

Presenter

• Marcos Magalhães (University of Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Abstract

Knowledge about distribution is important and necessary for the process of learning other statistical concepts, in particular, formal or informal inference. The differences between empirical and theoretical distributions are sometimes hard to understand for students of all levels. At the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, future mathematics teachers attend two basic statistics courses as part of their curriculum structure. In Brazilian middle and high schools, these are the professionals responsible for teaching the statistical concepts included in the contents of the mathematics discipline. Therefore, good knowledge of the concept of distribution will improve their teaching. In this paper, we focus on the misconceptions observed in basic Statistics courses attended by future mathematics teachers. We also present suggestions for activities that include the use of graphical and computer tools to improve the learning process.