A Comparative Study Of The Statistical Part Of The Mathematics Textbooks For Junior Middle Schools In China And Singapore

Statistical knowledge is an important theoretical basis to understand the mathematical phenomenon of "uncertainty" and analyze and infer based on big data.In middle school mathematics curriculum,mathematics education professionals pay more and more attention to statistics teaching.At present,there have been many studies on the international comparison of statistical curriculum content and textbooks,but there are still problems such as "rich research framework and insufficient quantitative analysis".On the basis of combing the relevant literature,the research establishes the comparative framework of the statistical part of junior high school mathematics textbooks,and compares the PEP textbooks in China with the NSM textbooks in Singapore from the aspects of statistical content,exercises,activities and overall difficulty.The main research questions are:(1)What are the characteristics of the two editions of junior high school mathematics textbooks in the columns of statistical content,distribution and style? What are the similarities and differences between the depth and breadth of statistical content?(2)What are the similarities and differences in the setting,quantity,type,openness and difficulty of statistical exercises between the two editions of junior middle school mathematics textbooks?(3)What are the characteristics of the statistical activities of the two editions of junior middle school mathematics textbooks? What are the similarities and differences?(4)What are the differences between the two editions of junior middle school mathematics textbooks in the overall difficulty of statistical part? What are the specific reasons for these differences?In order to solve the above problems,the research first uses the method of literature analysis to understand the current situation of the international comparative research on the content of statistical courses and textbooks by consulting periodicals and searching literature,and further establishes the comparative framework of the statistical part of junior middle school mathematics textbooks;secondly,using comparative research method,studies the statistical part of the two editions of junior high school mathematics textbooks from four dimensions: statistical content,exercises,activities and overall difficulty,and analyzes the quantitative values of each dimension of the two editions of textbooks;finally,according to the data of the comparative study of each dimension in the statistical part of the two editions of junior high school mathematics textbooks,differences of the two editions of textbooks in the whole and in each dimension are obtained.By analyzing the specific situation of each dimension of the statistics part of the junior middle school mathematics textbooks in the two new editions of China and Singapore,the conclusions are drawn:(1)NSM textbooks involve more chapters of statistical content than PEP textbooks.The statistical part of NSM textbooks needs higher level of thinking in presenting relevant knowledge points and concepts than PEP textbooks,but the distribution proportion and content breadth of statistical content of the two editions of textbooks are not much different.(2)The statistical exercises of junior high school mathematics textbooks in China and Singapore are generally set in the columns of class exercises,section exercises,chapter review exercises,etc.,and the main types are solution questions and closed questions.The difficulty of statistical exercises in PEP textbooks is slightly higher than that in NSM textbooks.Whether it is the number of large or small questions in the statistical exercises,NSM textbooks are more than PEP textbooks.(3)The number of statistics activities in PEP textbook is more than that in NSM textbooks,and the required level of PEP textbooks is higher than NSM textbooks.(4)Although PEP textbooks’ statistical content breadth value and exercise difficulty value are higher than NSM textbooks,NSM textbooks’ overall difficulty of statistical part is higher than PEP textbooks.Based on the research conclusions,the following suggestions for statistical teaching are proposed:(1)expand the breadth of statistical content and tap the potential depth of statistical content;(2)analyze the problem solving process of statistical exercises and reflect the statistical thinking method;(3)guide students to explore independently and realize the significance of statistical activities;(4)make full use of teaching resources to maximize the value of textbooks.