Students’ Aggregate Reasoning with Covariation

Helping students interpret and evaluate the relations between two variables is challenging. This chapter examines how students’ aggregate reasoning with covariation (ARwC) Aggregateaggregate reasoning with covariation (ARwC)emerged while they modeled a real phenomenon and drew informal statistical inferencesInformal Statistical Inference (ISI)in anLearning environmentinquiry/inquiry-based learning environmentinquiry-based learning environmentInquiryinquiry-based learning environmentusingSoftwareTinkerPlotsTinkerPlotsTM. We focus in this illustrative case study on the emergent ARwC of two fifth-graders (aged 11) involved in statistical data analysis and modelling activities and in growing samples investigationsInvestigationgrowing samples investigation. We elucidate four aspects of the students’ articulations of ARwC as they explored the relations between two variables in a small real sampleSamplereal sampleand constructed and improved a model ofModelmodel ofthe predicted relations in the populationPopulation. We finally discuss implications and limitations of the results. This article contributes to the study ofReasoningaggregate reasoningyoung students’Studentyoung learner/studentaggregate reasoningAggregateaggregate reasoningand the role of models in developing such reasoning.