Arrangement strategies in data representation tasks of Grade 4–7 learners

Abstract

Data representation is one of the generative skills in statistics education. This article explores data arrangement as integral part of data representation during the transnumerative process. Analysis of two open-ended data tasks completed by a hundred and forty four Grade 4 to 7 learners from a suburban government school indicates that different arrangement strategies were used for each type of representation. Learners had difficulty with the transnumeration of numerical data resulting in a bump of inappropriate arrangement strategies in the numerical task. Implications for teaching and further research are discussed.