Activities with statistical tables in math textbooks for multigrade rural schools in Chile

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the activities regarding statistical tables in the Chilean Math textbooks that the Ministry of Education provides to multigrade schools. The main theoretical bases considered in the study relate to the levels of reading and the levels of semiotic complexity. The methodology adopted is qualitative, that of descriptive level and the method used was content analysis. The units of analysis are type of graphs, level of reading, level of semiotic complexity, task type and the type of context. The results showed the predominance of the counting table, followed by the frequency table; of the reading level 2 (Reading the data); of the reading level 3 related to semiotic complexity (representation of data distribution); of the task of calculate; and of the type of context personal. Tasks related to statistical tables are not part of the curricula at 6th grade in Primary education, whereas counting tables are present in 1st and 2nd grade curricular programs. Finally, it is recommended to include activities by which students can make predictions from the data provided in a table, in which a group of data is being represented without summarizing the distribution, in which more than one type of data distribution is presented, and with a scientific context.