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Emotions and the Development of Statistical Literacy

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Emotions and the Development of Statistical Literacy

Author: Colin Carmichael

Publication Year: 2012

Abstract

Emotions play an important part in learning and are known to influence human development. The positive emotions of enjoyment and interest are thought to contribute to learning in distinctive ways, yet this distinction tends to be blurred in some learning research. This paper explores the role these two emotions play in the development of childrenâ€™s statistical literacy. It focuses on the responses of 220 middle-school children to just six self- descriptions, three assessing interest and three assessing enjoyment. Analysis of these responses suggests that the two emotions are difficult to differentiate empirically, but that differences in reported levels of enjoyment and interest may depend on studentsâ€™ perceptions of competence in the specific tasks with which they are engaged. Implications of this for teachers and researchers are discussed.

Type: research paper

Colin Carmichael

Emotions and the Development of Statistical Literacy

Short Communications & Round Tables

The following documents are essential to read and complete when considering submitting a short communication or round table to the MERGA conference (available in the Submission section of this website).

MERGA Paper Template – to be used to write the abstracts which are then submitted to the MERGA conference website
MERGA Publication Agreement – to be submitted on the MERGA conference website at the time of the abstract submission

Submissions not exceeding one page are required for short communications and round tables. The submissions must be prepared using the conference template, and can include essential references. They will be reviewed by the Editorial Team and, if accepted, will be published in the conference proceedings as one-page abstracts (not as papers). Presenters are invited to prepare a paper for distribution at the conference, but these papers will not be included in the proceedings.

Short communications are suitable for reports on research in mathematics education that do not fully meet the requirements for published papers. These might include works in preliminary stages, reports of pilot projects, initial reviews of literature, ideas or suggestions for future study, and briefer discussions of particular issues. Short communications allow new researchers to obtain feedback on projects in a constructive and supportive environment, and foster the building of links between researchers with similar interests.

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Research Papers

The following documents are essential to read and complete when considering submitting a research paper to the MERGA conference (available in the Submission section of this website).

MERGA Paper Template – to be used to write the papers which are then submitted to the MERGA conference website
MERGA Publication Agreement – to be submitted on the MERGA conference website at the time of the paper submission

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a statement of rationale for methodologies used in collecting and analysing data;
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in the literature review, prior work in the area should be acknowledged and an explanation of how the work reported in the paper builds on that earlier work should be included.

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a theoretical discussion;
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a literature review, a meta-study;
an account of a new initiative;
a reflective critique of practice; or
any mixture of these or other recognised scholarly forms.

When the work is a theoretical discussion, a position paper, a report of scholarly inquiry in progress, a review of literature, a theoretical study, a meta-study, an account of a new initiative, a reflective critique of practice or any mixture of these or other recognised scholarly forms, the material presented must be discussed critically, and alternative points of view relating to themes presented should be appropriately argued.
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a statement of the problem/issue and a discussion of its significance;
a critical analysis of the research literature as it relates to the topic of the paper; and
conclusions and implications for mathematics education derived from the study.

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MERGA Paper Template (to be used to write the papers which are then submitted to the MERGA conference website)
MERGA Publication Agreement (to be submitted on the MERGA conference website at the time of the paper submission)

Presentation of groups of published papers related by theme in the form of a research symposium is encouraged. The symposium forum will be particularly suitable for presentations relating to a single large project or presentations that explore topical themes from different and/or related perspectives. Special Interest Groups [SIGs] are encouraged to consider the symposium option as a means for sharing and discussing current research.

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