Teacher Knowledge of and for Statistical Investigations

Abstract

Increasingly, statistics investigations are being advocated for teaching school statistics, even from beginning primary school levels. Successful adoption of this approach in the classroom is dependent on the teacher, and specifically on teacher knowledge. In this chapter, a framework for identifying and describing teacher knowledge, that reveals the extent of what teacher knowledge is needed in the classroom for teaching statistics through investigations, is briefly described. Some examples are given of how particular aspects of teacher knowledge, or absence of these, impact on the learning opportunities in the classroom. Implications are considered for teacher education regarding how to develop comprehensive teacher knowledge for teaching statistics through investigations.