Investigation of Eighth Grade Students’ Performance on Tasks Involving Statistical Thinking About Measures of Central Tendency

Given that students are and will continue to be in constant interaction with statistical data throughout their lives, they must be equipped to read, understand, and interpret such data. As a result, engaging in statistical thinking becomes essential. Statistical thinking can be defined as viewing the statistical process holistically in order to comprehend its underlying purpose. The aim of this study is to investigate eighth-grade students’ performance on tasks related to measures of central tendency, and to analyse their statistical thinking processes in detail. This research was designed as a case study, with tasks developed by the researchers focusing on measures of central tendency used during the data collection phase. These tasks were analysed within the framework of the M3ST (Middle School Students' Statistical Thinking), and the students' statistical thinking levels were identified. Concurrently, the solution strategies employed by the students were examined, as well as their performance in solving problems related to measures of central tendency. The analysis revealed that the students' statistical thinking was predominantly at level 3 or level 4 for the components of organizing and reducing data, respectively, while it was at level 2 for the components of representing data and analysing and interpreting data. It was found that the participants possessed procedural knowledge regarding measures of central tendency but struggled to provide explanations or draw inferences about the concepts. Moreover, most of the participants appeared to lack a deep understanding of the fundamental concepts of measures of central tendency. These findings are discussed in the context of the existing literature.