Reading and interpretation of graphs in the third grade of Elementary School: What are the children’s learning difficulties?

Abstract

Statistics education has been considered in curriculum documents as an issue to be studied since the initial schooling years of elementary education, thus requiring the capacity of reading and interpreting information in tables and graphs. The understanding of statistics tools not only enables a greater social insertion of the subject in dealing with diverse information and data, but also contributes with a scientific formation, since it involves different research steps – raising questions, producing tools, collecting data and interpreting them. The purpose of this investigation was to analyze the knowledge about column graphs of third-year primary students of a public school in João Pessoa – PB, identifying their main difficulties. The methodology was based on a qualitative approach, having a diagnosis made of four tasks which included graphs and discussions. The results indicated difficulties in the reading of graphs components, mainly when an implicit information was presented and when the resolution of problem-situations demanded meanings of composition and comparison within the additive conceptual field. We have concluded that working with graphs in the early years needs to include varied scales, to enable the reading ‘beyond data’ through problem solving, articulating with arithmetic operations.