Statistical understanding: An investigation in two countries

Statistical understanding of students from Grades 3 to 9 in Australia and Singapore was assessed using two survey instruments. A 20-item survey involved items based on past research into probability and statistics, and a media survey involved questions based on 10 newspaper extracts. Responses were analysed using the language analysis software NUDNIST, and were classified according to the SOLO Model with Multimodal Functioning developed by Biggs and Collis. Results from the two countries are discussed in the light the curriculum, teaching practices, and cultural differences.