Orientações curriculares para o ensino da Estatística. Análise comparativa de três países

Abstract

In Portugal, Statistics is a recent curriculum topic and there are different perspectives regarding its teaching. Some, value especially the mathematical aspects of Statistics, others give special attention to its use in data analysis, and others emphasize its role as a language for describing reality. This paper analyses the objectives, contents, and methodological orientations regarding this topic and discusses its curriculum importance. It uses a document analysis methodology, studying the international trends and comparing the Portuguese curriculum with the English and the USA ones. This comparison shows that the Portuguese curriculum gives prominence to mathematical aspects, namely concepts, computations, and other procedures, and that the official English curriculum and the NCTM put in the foreground data analysis. Whereas in Portugal Statistics in seen as a chapter of Mathematics, with low profile, in England and in the USA it is seen as topic on its own right that supports carrying out of investigations about everyday issues. The paper concludes that the Portuguese curriculum should assume that Statistics is a fundamental element for education for citizenship, and move away from its current emphasis in representational and computational aspects.