“Rather than Simply Learning Statistics, We Aimed to Learn About the Bees, From the Bees”: An Exploration of the Factors Influencing the Development of Positive Teacher Attitudes Toward Statistics

The proliferation of data in all aspects of our lives positions statistical literacy as a critical skill in the 21st century. As teachers’ attitudes toward statistics have far-reaching implications for their future learning and that of their students, there is an impetus to identify the types of experiences that support the development of positive attitudes toward statistics. Using Japanese Lesson Study as a guiding framework, this study examined the influence of an 11-week, practice-based mathematics elective on 28 pre-service primary teachers’ attitudes toward statistics. Using Shapiro’s framework to inform our approach, we report on quantitative and qualitative data to reveal the nature and trajectory of pre-service teacher attitudes across the duration of the elective and particular experiences they attribute to these changes. Our findings indicate that the pre-service teachers credited the exploration of locally generated, societally relevant data and the use of math action technology to support data analysis with positive changes in attitudes toward statistics. Furthermore, opportunities to collaboratively design, deliver and extend rich learning experiences in the classroom were valued by participants.