PROCEEDINGS OF THE 15TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Vol 2)
2012
Portland, Oregon
Theoretical Reports Towards a description of symbol sense for statistics
Page: 2-608
This theoretical report aligns itself with Arcavi’s (1994) work and the tradition of onto- semiotic research in mathematics education (Font, Godino, & D’Amore, 2007) and is situated in the context of statistics education. This report will: • articulate a notion of symbol sense in statistics • explain the importance to student understanding of the development of symbol sense. The goal of this work is to guide both research and curriculum design efforts for introductory undergraduate statistics courses. The paper begins by describing statistical analogs of Arcavi’s algebraic symbol sense, then furthers this by noting the importance of reading symbols generally, reading symbols through the context of the question, and the reading of symbols related to the visualization or selection of the display. Finally, the paper briefly explores how the understanding of symbols becomes more difficult and important in the use of the Central Limit Theorem and estimation of parameters.