Tim Burgess

Teacher Knowledge of and for Statistical Investigations

Increasingly, statistics investigations are being advocated for teaching school statistics, even from beginning primary school levels. Successful adoption of this approach in the classroom is dependent on the teacher, and specifically on teacher knowledge. In this chapter, a framework for identifying and describing teacher knowledge, that reveals the extent of what teacher knowledge is needed in the classroom for teaching statistics through investigations, is briefly described. Some examples are given of how particular aspects of teacher knowledge, or absence of these, impact on the learning opportunities in the classroom. Implications are considered for teacher education regarding how to develop comprehensive teacher knowledge for teaching statistics through investigations.

Solving Linear Equations

Concerted efforts at improving student performance in algebra demonstrate that “children throughout the elementary grades are capable of learning powerful unifying ideas of mathematics that are the foundation of both arithmetic and algebra” (Carpenter, Franke, & Levi, 2003, p. xi). In New Zealand, Britt and Irwin’s (2005) investigation of the Numeracy Development Project found that those students who acquired flexibility in using a range of general arithmetical strategies also developed the ability to express the structure of those strategies in symbolic forms.