Comparative Study of the Categorization of Items of Statistical Literacy in Mathematics textbooks of elementary, junior high, and high schools in Japan

Abstract

There are many forms of statistical data; it is necessary for students to acquire reading comprehension and critical thinking skills for them to be able to judge the reliability of such data. The students’ reading comprehension and critical thinking abilities pertaining to the assessment of statistical data decreased from the result of the PISA and TIMSS surveys [1] The purpose of this study was to quantitatively analyze a number of issues related to statistical literacy derived from mathematics textbooks in Japan's elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools. Problems that focus on reading comprehension and critical thinking abilities seldom appear in elementary school arithmetic and junior high school and high school mathematics textbooks. Thus, in this paper, it is suggested that the decrease in reading comprehension and critical thinking skills is partly the result of the lack of opportunities that students have to solve problems that target these skills. For this reason, teachers must teach reading comprehension and critical thinking by using additional teaching materials.