Measures of central tendency in primary education textbooks in Chile

Abstract

This study analyzed the tasks associated with measures of central tendency proposed to Chilean students from 5<sup>th</sup> to 8<sup>th</sup> year of basic education. For this purpose, the activities involving mean, median, and/or mode were identified through the revision of two series of textbooks (16). The units of analysis were (1) type of measure, (2) task, (3) context, (4) support, and (5) cognitive skill. The main findings allowed us to indicate that the texts are aligned with the curricular guidelines, with tasks mostly associated with mean and mode, prioritizing calculation. Additionally, the tasks lack a context that gives meaning to the data. The support in which the data is presented is written and tabular. Finally, regarding the type of cognitive skills with the greatest presence in the textbooks, these are at a basic level.