Errors concerning Statistics and Probability in Spanish Secondary School Textbooks
Textbooks are considered essential, providing a hierarchical organisation of knowledge, forging the intellectual scaffolding of students and teachers alike, and playing a crucial role in compulsory education. In this paper we discuss, by means of a content analysis, the systematic errors detected in...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/24/12719 |
| _version_ | 1797461642473111552 |
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| author | Nuria Rico Juan F. Ruiz-Hidalgo |
| author_facet | Nuria Rico Juan F. Ruiz-Hidalgo |
| author_sort | Nuria Rico |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Textbooks are considered essential, providing a hierarchical organisation of knowledge, forging the intellectual scaffolding of students and teachers alike, and playing a crucial role in compulsory education. In this paper we discuss, by means of a content analysis, the systematic errors detected in the presentation of questions related to statistics and probability in Spanish secondary school textbooks on mathematics. We found some errors appear systematically in the texts, and the most common are: faulty differentiation between quantitative and qualitative variables, between discrete and continuous variables and between randomness and determinism, confused examples for the bar charts, uncritical choice for graphic representations, inaccuracies in specific vocabulary, and ignoring prior probabilities and a poor consideration about representativeness. We classify the observed errors considering that some of these errors arise from the inherent difficulty of the content and others arise from differences between mathematical and statistical thinking as well as from judgments based on heuristic rules. Knowing the existence of these errors and the reasons why they occur are key points to make them disappear from statistical lessons and to help citizens achieving true statistical literacy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:22:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a5c220db050343b7bd5182f0e5cd132d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:22:20Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-a5c220db050343b7bd5182f0e5cd132d2023-11-24T13:03:33ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-12-0112241271910.3390/app122412719Errors concerning Statistics and Probability in Spanish Secondary School TextbooksNuria Rico0Juan F. Ruiz-Hidalgo1Departamento de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, SpainDepartamento de Didáctica de la Matemática, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, SpainTextbooks are considered essential, providing a hierarchical organisation of knowledge, forging the intellectual scaffolding of students and teachers alike, and playing a crucial role in compulsory education. In this paper we discuss, by means of a content analysis, the systematic errors detected in the presentation of questions related to statistics and probability in Spanish secondary school textbooks on mathematics. We found some errors appear systematically in the texts, and the most common are: faulty differentiation between quantitative and qualitative variables, between discrete and continuous variables and between randomness and determinism, confused examples for the bar charts, uncritical choice for graphic representations, inaccuracies in specific vocabulary, and ignoring prior probabilities and a poor consideration about representativeness. We classify the observed errors considering that some of these errors arise from the inherent difficulty of the content and others arise from differences between mathematical and statistical thinking as well as from judgments based on heuristic rules. Knowing the existence of these errors and the reasons why they occur are key points to make them disappear from statistical lessons and to help citizens achieving true statistical literacy.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/24/12719mathematicsstatisticseducationschool mathematics contentstatistical literacyteaching |
| spellingShingle | Nuria Rico Juan F. Ruiz-Hidalgo Errors concerning Statistics and Probability in Spanish Secondary School Textbooks Applied Sciences mathematics statistics education school mathematics content statistical literacy teaching |
| title | Errors concerning Statistics and Probability in Spanish Secondary School Textbooks |
| title_full | Errors concerning Statistics and Probability in Spanish Secondary School Textbooks |
| title_fullStr | Errors concerning Statistics and Probability in Spanish Secondary School Textbooks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Errors concerning Statistics and Probability in Spanish Secondary School Textbooks |
| title_short | Errors concerning Statistics and Probability in Spanish Secondary School Textbooks |
| title_sort | errors concerning statistics and probability in spanish secondary school textbooks |
| topic | mathematics statistics education school mathematics content statistical literacy teaching |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/24/12719 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nuriarico errorsconcerningstatisticsandprobabilityinspanishsecondaryschooltextbooks AT juanfruizhidalgo errorsconcerningstatisticsandprobabilityinspanishsecondaryschooltextbooks |