Literature Index

Similarities and differences in the articles by Rumsey, Garfield and Chance are summarized. An alternative perspective on the distinction between statistical literacy, reasoning, and thinking is presented. Based on this perspective, an example is provided to illustrate how literacy, reasoning and thinking can be promoted within a single topic of instruction. Additional examples of assessment items are offered. I conclude with implications for statistics education research that stem from the incorporation of recommendations made by Rumsey, Garfield and Chance into classroom practice.

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.

This article focuses on the notion of literacy – general and statistical – in the analysis of data from a fieldwork research project carried out as part of a master’s degree that investigated the teaching and learning of statistics in adult education mathematics classes. We describe the statistical context of the project that involved the development of a questionnaire, the organization of the resulting information into tables, and the preparation of posters summarizing the results. The project was carried out with 7th-grade students, ages from 16 to 43, in a public state elementary school as part of the Youth and Adult Education program (Educação de Jovens e Adultos - EJA), located on the outskirts of Campinas, State of São Paulo, Brazil.

Statistical literacy is the ability to read and interpret data: the ability to use statistics as evidence in arguments. Statistical literacy is a competency: the ability to think critically about statistics. This introduction defines statistical literacy as a science of method, compares statistical literacy with traditional statistics and reviews some of the elements in reading and interpreting statistics. It gives more emphasis to observational studies than to experiments and thus to using associations to support claims about causation.