Exploring the potential for student development of the big ideas of statistics with random trials: the case of the mystery spinner

This paper reports on the potential for engaging students in an activity that considers the interconnectedness of the five Big Ideas of Statistics in the context of conducting random trials. In the study, two classes of Year 6 students (aged 11-12 years) used TinkerPlots to determine the sample space of a Mystery Spinner. Analysed for this paper were data collected from entries made in completed workbooks while engaged in the learning activity and responses to relevant questions in an end-of-year questionnaire from 27 students. The results indicated using an activity that included a probability model contributed to students working mathematically with percentages and frequencies and supported the development of intuitions about randomness and informal inference. This was promoted by students analysing the variation in the distribution of data and describing their expectations about an unknown sample space

Enhancement of gratitude in the context of elite athletes: outcomes and challenges

Gratitude has been heralded as important to emotional, social and societalwellbeing. A burgeoning body of recent research on the positive impact ofgratitude in sport calls for an investigation into its relevance to the field of elitesport, particularly for building resilience and enhancing relationships. Aninterpretivist/constructivist research approach was adopted to explore thepractices, outcomes and challenges of gratitude of ten Australian elite athletes—Olympians and Para-Olympians—who participated in a workshop on gratitude.Sports represented in this cohort included cycling, sailing, track and field, beachvolleyball and diving. Semi-structured interviews were used to generate data,which were explored using content analysis. Enhancement of gratitude with theelite athletes resulted in the adoption of more meaningful and authentic gratitudetowards others. Positive impact of gratitude expressed in this way was reported inthe areas of improved attitude; greater awareness; better capacity to deal withstress; increased confidence to express gratitude; and enhanced performance. Thepaper also discusses the perceived challenges of expressing gratitude within thiscontext

“Plot 1 is all spread out and Plot 2 is all squished together”: exemplifying statistical variation with young students

The idea of variation is a foundation of statistical reasoning, and many curriculumdocuments, including the Australian Curriculum, include variation in the learning requiredfor the primary years. In this paper, we consider the design of activities that can exemplifythe idea of variation for young students and investigate how students can use graphs tosupport discussions about variation. The use of appropriate contexts and the provision ofphysical experiences of the phenomena seemed to help students make sense of graphicalrepresentations and allowed them to discuss how variation was exemplified in the graphs

Data representations in a stem context: the performance of catapults

STEM activities have the potential to embed statistics education in meaningful contexts in theelementary years of schooling. This paper reports on part of an extended activity where Grade 4students were involved in learning about catapults, studying their behavior, and later attempting toimprove their performance. After initially collecting data from launching ping pong balls with thecatapults, students were given complete freedom to generate representations that could be used toanalyze their data to report on the distance the balls travelled and the consistency over a numberof trials. The results illustrate the breadth of graph-types students can create when given theopportunity to represent the data in ways most meaningful to them

Introducing Statistical Variation in Year 3 in a STEM Context: Manufacturing Licorice

As STEM education becomes more prominent at the school level, many possibilitiescould be suggested for beginning experiences to create a foundation for young studentsas they begin their journeys with respect to STEM learning. The research reported hereis based on the premise that building statistical understanding will enhance youngstudents’ learning as they engage with STEM learning experiences. This paper hencereports on an activity created to introduce students in Year 3 to the concept of statisticalvariation with data in a STEM-related context where variation occurs in an easilymeasured and realistic fashion. Students’ capabilities to appreciate the fundamentalnature of statistical variation and use it for comparison in a STEM context wereassessed through responses in student workbooks, to questions on an end-of-yearsurvey, and in individual interviews. The results illustrate the beginning stages ofstudent thinking about variation and the use of data when learning is embedded withina STEM context. They show that students can take on the idea of variation and use it inexplaining their experiences with the hands-on activity, which involved comparisons ofa hand-made and machine-made produc

Structure by Design: Reasoning About Covariation with TinkerPlots

What is an appropriate structure for reporting a study of the development of students’ understanding of covariation when using exploratory data analysis software, TinkerPlots Dynamic Data Exploration, following a pragmatist paradigm, and adopting educational design research methodology

What sense do children make of “data” by Year 3?

Statistical terms are used in everyday language and, at times, used in non-statistical ways. Itis often assumed students understand statistical terms because of their common use; however,research into their understanding of specific statistical terms is scant. This report focuses on58 Year 3 students’ responses to the basic question, “What does the term ‘data’ mean?”, andassociated examples of data and data representations. The results indicate students aremaking progress in establishing meaning about data and their representations.Recommendations include more use of varying contexts within which students can exploredata to enrich and enhance their learning about the practice of statistic

Focusing on data: year 5 students making STEM connections

Integrated STEM learning experiences provide the opportunity for students to make connections among the various disciplines. The outcomes for many STEM activities, however, are only reported for one discipline and provide little guidance for taking an integrated approach to learning in the classroom. This paper reports on a Year 5 STEM activity based on designing, making, and trialling seed dispersal devices. A focus on the data collected by the class and the subsequent graphical representations created during followup interviews, illustrates the way in which the students made connections to multiple STEM disciplines. The results indicate that Year 5 students have the capacity to use graphical representations of data to describe the performance of seed dispersal devices and base informal inferences about the performance of the devices on their knowledge of design, construction, materials, and fight from the various STEM disciplines