Developing statistical literacy (DSL): Student learning and teacher education

Abstract

Recent mathematics curriculum orientations stress the importance of developing students’ statistical literacy at different school levels. Many students can read and understand tables, charts, and graphs and perform the procedures to find statistical measures, but they miss the conceptual abilities to interpret and draw conclusions from graphs, or to make decisions on which calculation is appropriate to study a particular situation (Shaughnessy, 2007). In Portugal, the mathematics syllabus for basic education which started in 2010 presented more demanding learning objectives for statistics. This was a challenging situation for teachers requiring them to develop new perspectives and professional knowledge, since many of them did not have a suitable preparation in statistics. In this context, we planned a project aiming to construct knowledge about statistical literacy development, with two main foci: (1) the characterization of students’ statistical literacy from preschool to secondary levels, and the possibilities and constraints for its development, and (2) the development of teachers’ statistical and didactical knowledge for teaching in in-service and preservice teacher education settings. A review of literature supported both the planning and development of teaching experiments in classrooms at different school levels, based on sequences of tasks and the use of technological tools and the planning of courses in preservice education of educators and elementary school teachers and in-service teacher education, as well as creating contexts of collaborative work with teachers. The project used a design research methodology in teaching and teacher education experiments. Data was collected by a variety of methods including interviews, classroom observations, students’ written work, tests, and questionnaires. Data analysis included mainly qualitative approaches.