PROCEEDINGS OF THE 19TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2016
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
An initial look at students’ conveyed meanings for probability
Page: 190
Probability is the central component that allows statistics to be a useful tool for many fields. Thus, the meanings that students develop for probability have the potential for lasting impacts. This report extends Thompson’s (2015) theory of meanings through the notion of conveyed meaning: the constrained implications that a receiver attributes to the sender’s statements. A student’s conveyed meanings give insight into his/her initial and/or dominate meanings for a particular idea. This report shares the results of examining 114 undergraduate students’ conveyed meanings for probability after they received instruction as well as their instructors’ conveyed meanings. The worrisome presence of circular conveyed meanings carries implications for the teaching of probability.