Preservice mathematics teachers’ design of launches for statistical tasks

The success of teaching through statistical tasks relies upon the way in which the tasks are launched, including the way students are introduced to a dataset and its context. This research study investigates how four key characteristics for launching statistical tasks were included or not included in the planned task launches created by preservice mathematics teachers (PMTs). Five illustrative cases are presented and discussed to exhibit the diversity of launches planned. The findings suggest that a majority of the PMTs created launches that oriented students to the data’s context and provided opportunities to make personal connections to students’ lives. However, many PMTs’ task launches did not include an orientation to the dataset nor motivate the investigation using a statistical question. The key characteristics identified provide a framework for teachers to use when planning for statistical task launches, and implications for teacher education are discussed.