Developing Statistical Thinking in a Secondary School: A Collaborative Curriculum Development

Abstract

This paper describes the first year of a three-year collaborative curriculum development project in a secondary school that is underpinned by a theoretical statistical thinking framework. The teachers developed and implemented the statistics unit for their Year 11 classes (15 year-olds) based on their understanding of the framework and within the constraints of the national curriculum and assessment. Data gathered on the development of the statistics unit and its subsequent implementation are presented and discussed. An initial finding was that teachers were able to begin changing their practice to foster students’ statistical thinking in ways consonant with the framework. The influences of the framework, identifying problematic situations, collaboration, and assessment, which are impinging on the curriculum development, are elaborated upon and questions are raised about the nature of the development.