Use of High School Students’ Context and Mathematical/Statistical Knowledge Forms in Analyzing Data

Context knowledge is identified as an important component in statistical education but research in this area is very limited. In this study was tried to determine how students use the context knowledge in data analysis. With this aim, a performance test on data analyzing was developed. This performance test is include three questions for comparing the two data sets. The performance test was applied to total 120 students studying at six different 11th grade classes of two high school in Trabzon during 2012?2013 academic year. Students’ responses were analysed using Dapueto ve Parenti (1999) Model. Results showed that context knowledge is the most widely used form of reasoning in statistical task. Only the use of mathematical and statistical knowledge was just as much as the use of context knowledge. Both mathematical-statistical and context knowledge were quite a few of the answers that reflect the way of thinking. Forms of reasoning of students in each category are presented in detail.