Caracterización del conocimiento estadístico de un grupo de estudiantes al inicio de su formación como docentes de educación primaria

Résumé

This thesis aims to characterise the statistical knowledge of a group of students at the beginning of their training as primary school teachers. Existing research on the statistical knowledge of prospective teachers has focused on identifying which statistical concepts and procedures they apply when they analyse a set of data after having received statistics classes as part of the training programme. However, they do not report on the statistical problem-solving processes they develop, nor do they report on their statistical knowledge at the beginning of their training. We understand statistics as a discipline based on mathematics, but methodologically distinct, with its own practices and habits of mind. On this basis, we define statistical literacy as an amalgam of statistical literacy, statistical reasoning and statistical thinking competences. One of the dimensions of the latter competence is the ability to develop a statistical research cycle. In this framework, we have two specific objectives: i) to characterise the initial statistical knowledge of a group of primary school teacher trainees when they develop a statistical research cycle from the role of data producers and ii) to characterise this knowledge when they develop a statistical research cycle from the role of data consumers in civic statistics contexts. To respond to these objectives, two data collection instruments were designed, both based on the phases of the research cycle - problem, plan, data, analysis and conclusions. The first one was implemented in the context of primary teacher training in three institutions, two Chilean and one Catalan, with the future teachers taking the role of data producers. The second instrument incorporated data and representations from the Eurostat database and was implemented with a group of prospective primary school teachers in a Catalan university. The data correspond to the written reports produced by the groups of students when developing their research cycles. By means of a content analysis, through deductive and inductive processes, we identified actions, reasoning processes and the articulation of ideas when the future teachers developed a research cycle from the role of producers and from the role of consumers of data. This thesis provides information on i) the type of statistical questions that future teachers ask from the role of producers and consumers of data; ii) how they design data collection instruments and the characteristics of these instruments; iii) how they use statistical concepts and procedures; iv) how they interpret their results, generate conclusions and communicate them. In addition, it reports on how future teachers identify variables, values and their typology in tables and graphs with characteristics of civic statistics. From the point of view of innovation in initial teacher training, this research makes it possible to establish bridges between the initial knowledge of future teachers and the didactic proposals of the subjects of their training.