Designing Activities to Develop Statistical Literacy in Primary Pupils While Conducting Physics Laboratory Work in Informal Settings

Abstract

According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 measurements, Slovak primary school pupils commonly can reach some below average scores in terms of scientific literacy and have less and less positive attitudes towards the natural sciences. Natural sciences and statistics are intertwined disciplines. This implies that there is a room for teachers to try using interdisciplinarity and including basic statistics in the laboratory lessons of natural sciences. The aim of this research paper is to identify the difficulties that can occur when primary pupils collect and process data during a practical research task, combining, here, the knowledge stemming from the natural sciences and statistical reasoning. The research sample consisted of nine primary pupils from grade 1 to grade 4; the average age was 9.44 ± 1.33 years. Pupils were divided into the three age heterogeneous groups who were assigned a laboratory exam. The data were collected via an unstructured participatory observation. The results of our analysis of verbal expressions and practical activities suggest that pupils in our research sample are in the range of levels of nonformal and inconsistent understanding of statistics. In addition, we observed here some characteristics of consistent noncritical understanding. These findings suggest that, with the proper stimulation and frequent research activities requiring the direct activity and involvement of pupils, they could achieve higher levels of statistical literacy as well.