Abstract
Abstract: Purpose of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of the use of Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach on sixth grade students’ statistical thinking levels. Mooney’s (2002) statistical thinking framework describing four thinking levels across four different statistical thinking processes was used. This study utilized a quasi-experimental pretestposttest design. In the experimental group, the data handling unit was taught using RME approach whereas in the control group lessons were taught traditionally using a mathematics textbook and direct instruction. A statistical thinking test composed of seven open-ended questions was prepared and applied to both groups as pretest and posttest. The change of students’ statistical thinking levels in pretest and posttest were analyzed and compared in both groups as well as between groups. The data analysis showed that the overall growth at Level 4 across statistical thinking processes was higher for the students who were taught using the RME approach than for those taught traditionally.
Highlights
There are four statistical processes that are aligned with the statistical investigation cycle (Figure 1) for developing statistical thinking: ‘describing data’, ‘organizing and reducing data’, ‘representing data’, and ‘analyzing and interpreting data’
A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used to investigate whether the use of instruction based on Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach has an effect on developing sixth grade students’ statistical thinking
The RME approach was used in the experimental group while the lessons were taught traditionally using the textbook in the control group over three weeks
Summary
Due to the rise of information and communication technologies in today’s modern life, we are exposed to a huge amount of information on a daily basis and need higher-order thinking skills to use data beneficially. The Turkish National Mathematics Curriculum (2018) emphasizes students’ understanding of mathematical concepts and their use in the daily life by giving particular importance to higher-order thinking skills rather than memorizing facts with no connection to how they are used in real life. Such reforms with the same aims took place in the Netherlands (Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, 1996) many decades ago. Freudenthal and his colleagues came up with the idea of teaching the connection between real life and mathematics, named Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach in 1971 (Van den HeuvelPanhuizen, 1996). According to Freudenthal (1991), mathematics is a human activity and so it should be close to students’ daily lives
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