Students' Conceptions of Statistics: A Phenomenographic Study
By Anna Reid, Peter Petocz. 2002
162 citations recorded by the source corpus.
This paper reports on the results of an empirical study of students' conceptions and understanding of statistics. Six qualitatively different conceptions are described, ranging from fragmented to inclusive views. Students expressing the more inclusive and holistic conceptions approach their study of statistics through a focus on ‘higher-order’ statistical thinking. Students expressing limited and fragmented views may not be able to understand the complexity or applications of the discipline. This paper describes the use of a qualitative methodology – phenomenography – that aims to explore the qualitatively different ways in which a group of people experience a specific phenomenon, in this case statistics. It also describes an overarching framework, the “Professional Entity,” that relates students' understanding of statistics and their perceptions of working as a statistician. Investigating and describing the ways in which students learn statistics, how they understand statistics, and how they perceive their own work will enable teachers to develop curricula that focus on enhancing the student learning environment and guiding student conceptions of statistics.
Subfields: Education, Statistics and Probability
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/5471922c83d7a8094b8f6f5cdefdf82970976dc9
How researchers see this paper
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In Education
- Caroline Ramirez
- Susan N. Perkins
- Joan Garfield
- Danielle Dupuis
- A. Zieffler
- Marjorie E. Bond
- R. Hassad
In Statistics and Probability
- A. Zieffler
- S. Alt
- B. Chang
- Kristine Holleque
- Danielle Dupuis
- Caroline Ramirez
- Susan N. Perkins
- Joan Garfield
Citations in the corpus
- What Does Research Suggest About the Teaching and Learning of Introductory Statistics at the College Level? A Review of the Literature (2008, background): “Moreover, since many of these studies only attempt to characterize students’ perspectives on statistics (e.g., Gordon, 1995; Reid and Petocz, 2002), the recommendations for classroom teachers must remain vague generalities (e.”
- STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF STATISTICS: AN EXPLORATION OF ATTITUDES, CONCEPTUALIZATIONS, AND CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OF STATISTICS (2012, background): “These studies included two qualitative studies: one study collected data via interviews with a small number of students (Reid & Petocz, 2002), and another collected brief, written responses from a larger number of participants (Gordon, 2004).”