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Convergence and Divergence in Probability Teaching in Elementary and Secondary School in Québec: a Closer Look at Eight Teachers’ Self-reported Practices

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Abstract

The first stage of a study in Québec enabled us to draw up a statistical portrait of probability teaching practices self-reported by 626 teachers at the elementary and secondary levels. For the second stage of the study, discussed here, we wanted to elaborate on some of the questionnaire answers and to discuss professional development avenues inspired by the teachers’ experience. We conducted 1-h individual interviews with eight teachers who had taken part in the first stage and whose self-reported teaching practices were considered to be exemplary. By means of a thematic analysis, we explore issues surrounding certain self-reported probability teaching practices through examples related to the social usefulness of probability, professional development associated with probability teaching, the use of the frequentist approach, the connection between probabilistic approaches, unusual tasks, manipulatives, and technological tools for teaching probability.

Résumé

La première phase d’une enquête québécoise nous a permis de dresser un portrait statistique des pratiques déclarées d’enseignement des probabilités de 626 personnes enseignantes du primaire et du secondaire. Avec la deuxième phase de cette enquête, dont il est question ici, nous avons cherché à approfondir certaines des réponses au questionnaire et discuter des pistes de développement professionnel inspirées de l'expérience de personnes enseignantes. Pour ce faire, nous avons rencontré huit personnes enseignantes qui ont participé à la première phase et dont les pratiques déclarées d’enseignement ont été jugées exemplaires. Par une analyse thématique, nous exposons des enjeux reliés à certaines pratiques déclarées d’enseignement des probabilités, notamment en lien avec l’utilité social des probabilités, le développement professionnel au regard de l’enseignement des probabilités, l’approche fréquentielle, l’articulation des approches probabilistes, le recours à des tâches et à des matériels de manipulation atypiques et le recours à des outils technologiques dans l’enseignement-apprentissage des probabilités.

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Notes

  1. The study was performed in a Francophone context; verbatim excerpts in French have been translated into English for this article.

  2. It is a non-profit corporation in Québec whose main mission is the treatment of addictions and the rehabilitation of alcoholics, drug addicts, and pathological gamblers.

  3. However, even if there seems to be no significant relationship between education level (elementary or secondary) and use of the frequentist approach (χ2 = 3.54, p = 0.060, dof = 1), Martin et al. (2021b) have pointed out that secondary teachers use the theoretical approach significantly more than elementary teachers (χ2 = 140.99, p < 0.001, dof = 1).

  4. It should be noted that the total of the percentages exceeds 100%, because a task can be categorized simultaneously in more than one approach.

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Funding

The study was funded by the institutional research funds at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and at Université de Sherbrooke.

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  1. Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boulevard de l’Université, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada

    Vincent Martin & Marianne Homier

  2. Université du Québec en Outaouais, Campus de Saint-Jérôme, 5 Rue Saint Joseph, Saint-Jérôme, QC, J7Z 0B7, Canada

    Mathieu Thibault

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  1. Vincent Martin
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Correspondence to Vincent Martin.

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Excerpts of this analysis were presented in French in the proceedings of the 2017 conference of the Groupe de didactique des mathématiques du Québec (Martin et al., 2019a, b) and in English in the proceedings of the 2021 International Congress on Mathematical Education (Martin et al., 2021a).

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Martin, V., Thibault, M. & Homier, M. Convergence and Divergence in Probability Teaching in Elementary and Secondary School in Québec: a Closer Look at Eight Teachers’ Self-reported Practices. Can. J. Sci. Math. Techn. Educ. 22, 659–678 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42330-022-00241-2

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