BUILDING A CONNECTION BETWEEN<br>EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF PROBABILITY


Authors: 
Seth Ireland &amp; Jane Watson
Volume: 
4(3)
Pages: 
online
Year: 
2009
Publisher: 
International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education
URL: 
http://www.iejme.com/032009/IEJME_p09_Ireland_Watson_E.pdf
Abstract: 

This paper addresses a question identified by Graham Jones: what are the connections made by<br>students in the middle years of schooling between classical and frequentist orientations to probability? It does<br>so based on two extended lessons with a class of Grade 5/6 students and in-depth interviews with eight<br>students from the class. The Model 1 version of the software TinkerPlots was used in both settings to simulate<br>increasingly large samples of random events. The aim was to document the students' understanding of<br>probability on a continuum from experimental to theoretical, including consideration of the interaction of<br>manipulatives, the simulator, and the law of large numbers. A cognitive developmental model was used to<br>assess students' understanding and recommendations are made for classroom interventions.

The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education

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