Examining 7th grade students' informal statistical inferences using tinkerplots: Sample-population relationship

This study aimed to examine the informal statistical inference processes of the uncertainty experienced by primary school 7th-grade students about the representation of the population of a randomly selected sample. Case study design, one of the qualitative research methods, was adopted for data collection and analysis of the research. The research was carried out with six students studying in the 7th grade at a school in Istanbul in the 2022-2023 academic year. Three activities were developed and implemented to reveal students' sample selection and representative thoughts. The study data were obtained from the activity papers applied by the students, the computer screen recordings they used during the activity, and the ambient sound recordings. Students carried out the activities using TinkerPlots software. The data collected in the research examined the informal statistical inferences that students created with the integrated model understanding in statistical modeling processes. These inferences are grouped under three headings: simplification of phenomena, sample representativeness, and the effect of increasing sample size on sample representativeness. The research revealed how students' understanding of sample representativeness developed and how their integrated model understanding, probabilistic thinking, and statistical knowledge matured. It was concluded in the study that the students' thinking about the sample's representation of the population evolved from a static structure to a more dynamic and probabilistic mindset. It is recommended to add learning outcomes in which inferential statistics studies are at the forefront of our country's curriculum and to create learning environments that will expand students' representation of sample variability.