A research on the Teaching and Learning Aiming to Foster Mathematical Literacy: Focus on the Statistics Region in Middle School

Abstract

　　The purpose of this paper is to characterizing the teaching and learning aiming to foster today’s mathematical literacy in statistic region, using unit on descriptive statistics as an example.　To achieve this purpose, the teaching and learning which exemplified in this paper were considered from perspectives of mathematical literacy.

　　The results are followings.

(1)　 The process of teaching and learning aiming to foster today’s mathematical literacy was clarified from the viewpoint of social change.　This process was the teaching and learning incorporating structure-oriented into application-oriented mathematical methods.　In this process, it was important that ways of solving (i.e. model) toward a real world’s problem are gradually extended as they become sharable (used by other people) and reusable (in other situation) (cf. Lesh & Zawojewski, 2007).

(2)　 “Variability” was thought as the statistical conception which plays central roles in statistics. And this conception’s way of developing was identified through considerations of prior researches on statistics education (e.g. Reading & Shaughnessy, 2004).

(3)　 The teaching and learning in statistic region which exemplified in the latter part of this paper were characterized from the perspectives on mathematical literacy. The characteristics will play a significant role when we want to embody the teaching and learning aiming to foster today’s mathematical literacy in statistical region and other topic region.