ERIC Number: EJ1254981
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-May
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1954
EISSN: N/A
Third-Graders' Predictive Reasoning Strategies
Oslington, Gabrielle; Mulligan, Joanne; Van Bergen, Penny
Educational Studies in Mathematics, v104 n1 p5-24 May 2020
This paper describes elementary students' awareness and representation of the aggregate properties and variability of data sets when engaged in predictive reasoning. In a design study, 46 third-graders interpreted a table of historical temperature data to predict and represent future monthly maximum temperatures. The task enabled students to interpret numbers in context and apply their understanding of inherent natural variation to create a generalised data set. Student predictions, representations, and written and verbal descriptions were analysed using two frameworks--Awareness of Mathematical Pattern and Structure (AMPS), and Data Lenses. While 54% of students used the variability of the given data table to predict temperatures that were within the historical range for each month, only 20% described the table by focusing on aggregate properties. Student representations varied from highly structured line and bar graphs to idiosyncratic drawings on weather-related themes. In total, 83% of student representations were either idiosyncratic or direct copies of the data table. These findings suggest a progression in students' predictive reasoning, with an awareness of range and seasonal patterns emerging before a multifaceted aggregate view.
Descriptors: Grade 3, Elementary School Students, Logical Thinking, Thinking Skills, Prediction, Data Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Grade 3; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A