READING AND INTERPRETATION OF STATISTICAL GRAPHICS BY 2ND YEAR
STUDENTS OF HIGH SCHOOL
Andréa Pavan Perin and Celso Ribeiro Campos
Faculdade de Tecnologia de São Paulo
Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo
profcrcampos@gmail.com
This paper aims to analyze students' understanding about graphs and tables concerning the level of
reading that is necessary for them to interpret and communicate information presented through these
graphs and tables. A formative assessment attached to a didactic activity was carried out in a class of
29 high school students. The students' production was analyzed according to assumptions of the
discursive textual analysis methodology. The results indicated that students recognize that the reading
of graphs and tables passes through different levels, which range from literal reading to that which
requires the search for implicit information. The students pointed out that certain information was clear
in the graph, and they just needed to point them out, whereas other information required students to
combine and integrate information so that it could be understood.
INTRODUCTION
In today's society, we live in a context in which people are constantly compelled to interpret
information and data that are present in the news, social networks, advertisements, etc. We highlight
that, as citizens, we are often encouraged to give opinions on everyday facts that require the
understanding of graphs to make estimations, organize thinking, and make conscious decisions.
Considering the presence of statistics in our daily lives, Brazil’s official curriculum proposal highlights
and justifies the relevance of teaching statistical contents, claiming that it is essential for people's lives.
However, they emphasize that this learning should be significant and prioritize the meaning of concepts
and critical reading of information (Ministério da Educação, 2018).
Campos (2007) and Perin (2019) point out that in the didactic process of statistics, the
development of three skills is relevant: statistical literacy, statistical reasoning, and statistical thinking.
Such competences are essentially based on the critical interpretation and analysis of information from
real data and are aligned with the principles that guide Critical Education and Critical Mathematics
Education.
In this line, Perin and Campos (2020) explain that the teaching of statistics at different school
levels should prioritize learning experiences relevant to the development of these skills to enable
students to become able to face various tasks they will find in different everyday contexts. For the
authors, these pedagogical experiences must be centered on students and focused on problems that are
relevant to them so that they can reflect on the activity developed.
Therefore, focusing on statistical literacy, we proposed a didactic strategy based on a formative
assessment to analyze the understanding of 2
nd
year high school students about the reading levels that
are necessary for them to understand and communicate information presented in graphs and tables. Our
goal is to clarify the reading levels that are necessary for students to understand and communicate
information presented in graphics and tables.
In the theoretical framework of this study, we emphasize the concept of statistical literacy
regarding the reading of graphs and tables, describing its different levels. Additionally, we briefly
discuss the formative assessment didactic strategy. The students’ output will be analyzed in light of this
theoretical framework.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Campos, Wodewotzki, and Jacobini (2011) define statistical literacy as the study of arguments
that use statistics as a reference, that is, the ability to argue correctly using statistical terminology. They
also include basic skills for understanding information, which require the ability to organize data, build
tables, and understand symbols, vocabulary, and concepts as well as probability as a measure of
uncertainty.
ICOTS11 (2022) Invited Paper (DOI: 10.52041/iase.icots11.T2F1) Pavan Perin & Ribeiro Campos
In S. A. Peters, L. Zapata-Cardona, F. Bonafini, & A. Fan (Eds.), Bridging the Gap: Empowering & Educating
Today’s Learners in Statistics. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS11
2022), Rosario, Argentina. International Association for Statistical Education. iase-web.org ©2022 ISI/IASE