Learning Hypothesis Testing Through a Project Work Methodology

Background

In a statistical project with an investigative nature, is expected that the student use quantitative methodologies, integrating language and statistical methods into a more global research process (Batanero, 2001). In this investigative process, students should formulate questions and plan studies that will enable them to answer the same questions, make decisions about the type of collected data and their analysis and interpretation, and finally draw conclusions. If the conclusions reached do not answer the study questions, it will be necessary to collect new data and / or reformulate the research questions. After the study, the students communicate the results obtained, defending the options taken and the interpretations made.

Fernandes, Viseu, Fernandes, Silva and Duarte (2009), through the review of several studies about statistics teaching in basic education, concluded that “the exploration of tasks was almost always in the phases of treatment, interpretation of data, and were rarely directed to other phases of the statistical method “(p 3444), thus leading to a very focused learning of statistics in calculation processes and graphing representation.