Statistics in the South African School Curriculum

Wessels, Helena

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-1131-0_4

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…However, Wun (2010 states that "a teacher cannot teach something that she does not know how to"; here the question is whether teachers' gaining statistical literacy skills is worth investigating (as cited in Jairaman, Zamri, & Rahim, 2018, p. 1). On the other hand, it is stated that teachers consider themselves as incompetent in teaching statistics (Batanero, Burrill, & Reading, 2011;Gattuso & Ottaviani, 2011;Wessels, 2011). Also, studies conducted with teachers confirm teachers' difficulties regarding statistical subjects and concepts (Batanero et al, 2011;Gattuso & Ottaviani, 2011).…”

Section: Data Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Statistics Courses in Terms of the Statistical Literacy: Didactic Pathways of Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers

Güven¹,

Baki²,

Uzun³

et al. 2021

INT ELECT J MATH ED

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This study intends to determine the statistical literacy levels of pre-service mathematics teachers and to evaluate the contribution of the statistics courses in the elementary mathematics education curriculum to statistical literacy. A mixed methods research design was adopted. The study group consisted of 202 pre-service mathematics teachers enrolled in the Statistics and Probability course. In the data collection process, a pre-test and post-test was administered to determine the pre-service teachers' statistical literacy before and after the statistical course, and classroom observations were performed to identify the contribution of the statistics course to statistical literacy. The Rasch model was used for validity-reliability analyses, and one-way ANOVA tests were used to analyze the quantitative data. Content analysis was utilized in the analysis of qualitative data, which revealed that statistical literacy levels of pre-service teachers are generally low, generally influencing the competence of pre-service teachers. The pre-service teachers failed in the sample selection component in the pretest and data interpretation in the post-test, while they were more successful with table and graphs in the pre-test and sample selection in the post-test. The comparative analysis of revealed statistically significant differences in favor of U4 in the pre-test, but in favor of U1 in the post-test. It was concluded that practices included in the statistics lessons could be effective on these differences.

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Section: Data Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Statistics Courses in Terms of the Statistical Literacy: Didactic Pathways of Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers

Güven¹,

Baki²,

Uzun³

et al. 2021

INT ELECT J MATH ED

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show abstract

“…To reduce anxiety and provide the most optimal base for future development of statistics education at all levels, it is imperative that all school and introductory statistics modules should be designed in a way such that calculations are delayed until concepts have been mastered, with an emphasis on the use of real or realistic data. Preparing teachers to teach statistics meaningfully is thus a vital and important research area that has not received enough attention (Wessels, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Through a focus on in-service teachers, the scope of statistics education is being broadened considerably at school level. The issue of statistics training of pre-service teachers is addressed by universities and teacher training centres, as they are starting to incorporate statistics education courses into their formal teacher training courses (Wessels, 2008). Teachers are thus being prepared to teach statistics by enabling pre-service teachers to develop the statistical literacy, thinking and reasoning abilities called for in the NCS.…”

Section: Statistics Education At School Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the sheer shortage of statisticians in the country, BSc and Honours graduates in Statistics receive lucrative offers from industry, business and government. Accordingly, very few South African statistics graduates opt to pursue postgraduate studies in Statistics or Statistics Education (Wessels, 2008). Currently there are not enough statisticians being produced to meet the demand of personnel with at least an MSc degree in Statistics.…”

Section: Statistics and Statistics Education At University Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Opportunities and challenges for statistics education in South Africa

Zewotir

North

2011

Pythagoras

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The South African educational system is in a state of transformation as the Government embarks on a process of grappling with legacies of the past, whilst balancing risks and opportunities for the future. Accordingly, a new school curriculum with outcomes-based education as the fundamental building block was introduced along a sliding scale, starting in 1997. This curriculum, with a vast statistics content, has the potential to change the face of statistics education in South Africa, as statistics had previously been virtually absent from the school syllabus. This article highlights the challenges to and opportunities for optimising the teaching of statistics across all education levels in South Africa.How to cite this article: Zewotir, T., & North, D. (2011). Opportunities and challenges for statistics education in South Africa. Pythagoras, 32(2), Art. #28, 5 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/pythagoras.v32i2.28

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“…In South Africa, statistics has traditionally been taught by using lecturing methods covering the mechanics of statistical methods and the theory of probability and mathematical statistics where students' contribution is restricted (Steffens & Fletcher, 1999). Along the same lines, Wessels (2008) reported that South African teachers did not have sufficient statistical content and pedagogical content knowledge to teach statistics because the teachers had had no effective training in statistics. Scholars suggest that building the capacity of teachers, as mediators of the curriculum, may be the ultimate answer (Moloi, 2005).…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Examining Teachers’ Perceptions About Improving the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and Statistics

Umugiraneza

Bansilal

North

2018

SERJ

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The purpose of this paper is to examine South African teachers’ suggestions for improving the teaching and learning of mathematics and statistics, as well as exploring relationships between certain demographic factors and the number and types of strategies suggested by teachers. The study was conducted with 75 South African mathematics teachers. We asked them to respond to closed- and open-ended questions regarding their strategies and plans about how they intend to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and statistics. The findings revealed that teachers were most concerned with improving the motivation and interest of their learners. Furthermore, there were relationships between the number and types of strategies suggested and certain factors such as attendance at workshops, and use of the curriculum. First published November 2018 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives

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Statistics in the South African School Curriculum

Cited by 8 publications

References 2 publications

Evaluating the Statistics Courses in Terms of the Statistical Literacy: Didactic Pathways of Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers

Evaluating the Statistics Courses in Terms of the Statistical Literacy: Didactic Pathways of Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers

Opportunities and challenges for statistics education in South Africa

Examining Teachers’ Perceptions About Improving the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and Statistics

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