Measuring middle school students' interest in statistical literacy

This article describes the development of an instrument designed to assess middle school students' interest in statistical literacy. The article commences with a review of the literature as it relates to interest in this context and then proposes a theoretical model upon which the proposed inst...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mathematics education research journal 2010-11, Vol.22 (3), p.9-39
Main Authors: Carmichael, Colin, Callingham, Rosemary, Hay, Ian, Watson, Jane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Australia
Education
Foreign Countries
Goodness of Fit
Intervention
Interviews
Item Analysis
Learner Engagement
Learning Strategies
Literacy
Lower secondary years
Mathematics attitudes
Mathematics Education
Measurement techniques
Measures (Individuals)
Middle School Students
Middle years
Rasch model
Rating Scales
Research methodology
Secondary education
Secondary school students
Statistics
Student Attitudes
Student Interests
Validity
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
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Summary:This article describes the development of an instrument designed to assess middle school students' interest in statistical literacy. The article commences with a review of the literature as it relates to interest in this context and then proposes a theoretical model upon which the proposed instrument is based. Students in years 7, 8, or 9 from 16 schools in four Australian states participated in the study. The Rasch Rating Scale model was applied to student responses to items in the instrument and fit statistics were analysed in order to assess the extent to which these responses conform to the requirements of the measurement model. The article then presents evidence, including interview data, to support the validity of interpretations that can be made from the proposed instrument. The findings suggest that the proposed instrument provides a theoretically sound measure of middle school students' interest for statistical literacy that will be useful for the evaluation of interventions aimed at developing these students' statistical literacy. [Author abstract, ed]
ISSN:1033-2170
2211-050X
DOI:10.1007/BF03219776