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Assessing and Developing Prospective Teachers’ Understanding of Random Sequences

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Abstract

In this paper we describe a formative activity carried out with a sample of 157 prospective primary school teachers in Spain. Participants first completed a task used in previous research with children and then, discussed their solutions and carried out simulation activities. Results show initial difficulties to discriminate a random and a non-random sequence; difficulties in understanding independence and perceiving the variability linked to randomness. The simulation activities helped many participants to overcome these biases. We conclude with some implications for teacher education.

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Correspondence to Carmen Batanero .

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Batanero, C., Gómez, E., Gea, M., Contreras, J. (2014). Assessing and Developing Prospective Teachers’ Understanding of Random Sequences. In: Sproesser, U., Wessolowski, S., Wörn, C. (eds) Daten, Zufall und der Rest der Welt. Springer Spektrum, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-04669-9_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-04669-9_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer Spektrum, Wiesbaden

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