How High School students understand statistical variability based on a contextual teaching situation

The teaching of statistics in basic education is important due to the growing needs of contemporary society. This article presents elements of a study that investigated how students perceive, represent, compare, and identify patterns related to statistical variability, in a teaching situation related to electricity consumption. The research had a qualitative and exploratory approach, based on a theoretical perspective that considers different aspects inherent to the conceptual understanding of statistical variability. The participants were 38 third-grade high school students from a state public school in the Cariri region, in the south of Ceará. The results suggested that the perception and identification of variability patterns were the aspects best understood by the students. The answers related to comparison and the representation of variability indicated conceptual mistakes. The analysis of the results emphasized the importance of the context for the students’ learning and statistical literacy process.