Statistical literacy, reasoning, and thinking: goals, definitions, and challenges

Statistics is a discipline in its own right rather than a branch of mathematics, and the knowledge needed to solve statistical problems is likely to differ from the knowledge needed to solve mathematical problems. Therefore, a framework that characterizes creative performance in learning to reason about informal statistical inference is essential. In this paper we present an initial framework to assess creative praxis of primary school students involved in learning informal statistical inference in statistical inquiry settings. In building the suggested framework, we adapt the three common characteristics of creativity in the mathematics education literature, namely, fluency, flexibility, and novelty, to the specifics of learning statistics. We use this framework to capture creative praxis of three sixth grade students in a 60-min statistical inquiry episode. The episode analysis illustrates the strengths and limitations of the suggested framework. We finally consider briefly research and practical issues in assessing and fostering creativity in statistics learning.