Characteristics of teachers' conversations about teaching mean, median, and mode

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Characteristics of Teachers Conversations about Teaching Mean Median and Mode.pdf (390.29 KB)

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http://hdl.handle.net/11603/136

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SU Faculty and Staff Collection
SU Department of Education Leadership and Graduate Studies

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Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2009

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Text

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Citation of Original Publication

Groth, R.E. (2009). Characteristics of teachers' conversations about teaching mean, median, and mode. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5), 707-716.

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Subjects

statistics
teacher education
measures of central tendency

Abstract

The study analyzed a conversation among a group of teachers responsible for teaching the concepts of mean, median, and mode. After reading an article describing some specific student difficulties in learning the concepts, teachers were asked to discuss how the teaching of the concepts could be improved. Several claims pertinent to improving teaching practice were offered. Claims focused on the appropriate age at which to introduce statistical concepts, the influence of the state-prescribed curriculum on teaching practice, content-specific teaching strategies, and content-independent teaching strategies. Teachers’ claims were discussed in terms of points of departure and agreement with existing empirical research.