Prospective secondary school teachers’ didactic-mathematical knowledge on statistical inference

Abstract

Statistical inference is a currently taught topic in Spanish high school classes and is assessed in the university entrance exams, but the specific didactic preparation is not enough for the teachers in charge of the topic. The aim of the study was to evaluate the common mathematical knowledge of this content and the epistemic and cognitive facets of didactic knowledge in a sample of prospective Spanish teachers. To achieve this purpose, they were asked to solve a task taken from the university entrance exams for high school students and to identify the mathematical objects required in its solution and the possible errors encountered by the students in this process. The results show a good mathematical knowledge of the prospective teachers and an initial knowledge in the epistemic and cognitive facets. However, their identification of mathematical objects and errors is scarce and practically restricted to the procedural aspect. We conclude that there is a need to reinforce the preparation of prospective teachers in the didactics of inference.

Didactic-mathematical knowledge; Prospective teachers; Epistemic and cognitive facets; Statistical inference