Exploring beginning inference with novice grade 7 students

This study documented efforts to facilitate ideas of beginning inference in novice grade 7 students. A design experiment allowed modified teaching opportunities in light of observation of components of a framework adapted from that developed by Pfannkuch for teaching informal inference with box plots. Box plots were replaced by hat plots, a feature available with the software TinkerPlots^TM. Data in TinkerPlots files were analyzed on four occasions and observed responses to tasks were categorized using a hierarchical model. The observed outcomes provided evidence of change in students’ appreciation of beginning inference over the four sessions. Suggestions for change are made for the use of the framework in association with the intervention and the software to enhance understanding of beginning inference.