Student's Causal Explanations for Distribution

Author(s)
Prodromou, Theodosia
Pratt, Dave
Publication Date
2009
Abstract
This paper presents a case study of two students aged 14-15, as they attempt to make sense of distribution, adopting a range of causal meanings for the variation observed in the animated computer display and in the graphs generated by the simulation. The students' activity is analysed through dimensions of complex causality. The results indicate support for our conjecture that carefully designed computer simulations can offer new ways for harnessing causality to facilitate students' meaning-making for variation in distributions of data. In order to bridge the deterministic and the stochastic, the students transfer agency to specially designed active representations of distributional parameters, such as average and speed.
Citation
Proceedings of the Sixth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education, p. 394-403
ISBN
9782734211907
Link
Publisher
Institut National de Recherche Pedagogique [French Institute of Education] (INRP)
Title
Student's Causal Explanations for Distribution
Type of document
Conference Publication
Entity Type
Publication

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