When data and chance collide: Drawing inferences from empirical data

The purpose of this chapter is to share the insights we gained from implementing a task with sixth-grade students as they learned to draw inferences from empirical data. To accomplish this goal we begin by describing the key features of the task that elicit and extend students' reasoning. Next we provide several contrasting examples that exemplify the notion of "compelling evidence" among middle grades students, and then offer provisions for individual differences. Finally we argue that carefullydesigned instructional tasks can engage students of all different ages in statistical inference and promote the development of powerful connections between data and chance.