Research in Mathematical Education (한국수학교육학회지시리즈D:수학교육연구)

Korean Society of Mathematical Education (한국수학교육학회)
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Preservice Teachers' Difficulties with Statistical Writing

  • Park, Min-Sun (Department of Mathematics Education, Graduate School, Seoul National University) ;
  • Park, Mimi (Department of Mathematics Education, Graduate School, Seoul National University) ;
  • Lee, Eun-Jung (Department of Mathematics Education, Graduate School, Seoul National University) ;
  • Lee, Kyeong Hwa (Department of Mathematics Education, Seoul National University)
  • Received : 2012.10.24
  • Accepted : 2012.12.16
  • Published : 2012.12.31
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Abstract

These days, with the emphasis on statistical literacy, the importance of communication is the focus of attention. Communication about statistics is important since it is a way of describing the understanding of concepts and the interpretation of data. However, students usually have trouble with expressing what they understand, especially through writing. In this paper, we examined preservice teachers' difficulties when they wrote about statistical concepts. By comparing preservice teachers' written responses and interview transcripts of the variance concept task, we could find the missing information in their written language compared to their verbal language. From the results, we found that preservice teachers had difficulty in connecting terms contextually and conceptually, presenting various factors of the concepts that they considered, and presenting the problem solving strategies that they used.

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References

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