“Data and Predictions” Emerging as One of the Basic Themes in the Mathematical Curriculum of the First Cycle School Level in Italy

Abstract

In the reform of the Italian school system, a new pedagogical point of view has shifted attention away from content and skills and toward competencies. Also contributing to the proposal of a new mathematical curriculum is a new way of looking at mathematics that takes globalised societal needs into consideration. This paper describes the role of the Italian Statistical Society (SIS) in proposing knowledge and skills of the “Data and predictions” nucleus, which has emerged as one of the basic themes in the new mathematics curriculum. We present the guidelines which have been implemented to enhance the visibility of statistics and probability in the mathematical curriculum, taking into account the results of some recent research on statistics education carried out in Italy.