O ensino de estatística na formação inicial do professor de matemática em um projeto de prática docente compartilhada: construindo pontes entre escola, universidade e saberes estatísticos

Abstract

Throughout the late 20th century and early 21st century, we witnessed, in a global trend, the emergence and growth of the teaching of Statistics in basic education. In Brazil, with the implementation of the National Common Curricular Base (BRASIL, 2018), the thematic unit Probability and Statistics became part of the Mathematics curricular component, consolidating the presence of this subject throughout all school years. However, despite this mandatory inclusion in the basic education classroom, the teaching of Statistics is still something new, both for Mathematics teachers and for future Mathematics teachers in training. Since the nature of Statistics is different from the nature of Mathematics, questions arise about how it would be worked on in basic education and what possible approaches could be made with students. If on the one hand, the legislation places Statistics as part of the Mathematics curricular component in classrooms, on the other hand, how would this be implemented in universities: would there be a specific focus on basic education? This research was based on this interest in knowing how preparation for working with Statistics at school currently occurs in the pre service Mathematics teacher education undergraduate program. It is necessary to establish bridges between the statistical knowledge developed in basic education by Mathematics teachers and that seen at the university, and the initial training of Mathematics teachers is a powerful space to establish this dialogue. This research investigated, through a Shared Teaching Practice, possible ways of building these bridges. Thus, we seek to answer the question: What changes occurred in the understanding of prospective Mathematics teachers about Statistics and its teaching in Basic Education, when they took an introductory Statistics course within a Shared Teaching Practice project? The methodology used was qualitative research, establishing the research strategy in the form of a case study, through participant observation. Data production was carried out using multiple instruments (initial questionnaire, class records, written activities, conversation circle and lesson plans), within a mandatory and introductory Statistics discipline in a Mathematics Degree course at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), taught from April to August 2022 in a Shared Teaching Practice project. The results obtained indicate that the undergraduate students developed a new perspective on Statistics and its teaching, especially by identifying the importance of this knowledge in the education of citizens and in the promotion of Statistical Literacy in basic education. They demonstrated an expansion of statistical knowledge and pedagogical knowledge of statistical content, especially Descriptive Statistics and Statistical Inference, recognizing Statistics as a science with its own knowledge. However, they had difficulty working with Probability beyond the classical approach and its calculation, not using it as a measure of uncertainty for decision-making and not making connections with Statistics. Shared Teaching Practice proved to be an essential element for building bridges between school and university regarding statistical knowledge. In fact, although the focus of the research was on the changes in the undergraduate students, profound changes also occurred in the educators. At the end, suggestions are presented for possible future developments of the research.