Middle Grades: Misconceptions in Statistical Thinking

A sample of 134 sixth‐grade students who were using the Connected Mathematics curriculum were administered an open‐ended item entitled, Vet Club (Balanced Assessment, 2000). This paper explores the role of misconceptions and naïve conceptions in the acquisition of statistical thinking for middle grades students. Students exhibited misconceptions and naïve conceptions regarding representing data graphically, interpreting the meaning of typicality, and plotting 0 above the x‐axis.