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Determinism and Empirical Commitment in the Probabilistic Reasoning of High School Students

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Teaching and Learning Stochastics

Part of the book series: ICME-13 Monographs ((ICME13Mo))

Abstract

In this paper, we explore students’ responses to two binomial tasks , one related to prediction and another to distribution, in an effort to understand how students express variability in their predictions before and after simulation activities. To collect data, a four-stage study was conducted with two student groups (one with instruction in probability and the other without it). The first and fourth stages consisted of administering a test that included questions about a binomial experiment , B(x, 2, ½). During the second and third stages, the students conducted simulations with manipulatives and with software. The SOLO taxonomy was used to analyse their progress in reasoning based on their responses to two questions on the test. By analysing the students’ responses in a double-entry table to both questions, we were able to ascertain the difficulties that students face in integrating variability into their reasoning, despite their experience with simulation. Two patterns of student responses are salient from the set of answers: Determinism and Empirical commitment.

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Acknowledgements

Research Projects EDU2016-74848-P (AEI, FEDER), EDU2013-41141-P (MINECO), and P254301 (CONACYT).

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Correspondence to Ernesto Sánchez .

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Sánchez, E., I García-García, J., Mercado, M. (2018). Determinism and Empirical Commitment in the Probabilistic Reasoning of High School Students. In: Batanero, C., Chernoff, E. (eds) Teaching and Learning Stochastics. ICME-13 Monographs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72871-1_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72871-1_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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