Un estudio experimental de la estimación de la correlación a partir de diferentes representaciones

Resumen

Correlation is a relevant topic at secondary school and university level. However, most didactical research in this field comes from psychology and only refers to 2x2 contingency tables. On the other hand, representation has fundamental influence on understanding mathematical concepts. In this paper, we take into account the different representations of the correlation: verbal description, numerical table, scatter plot, and correlation coefficient, and we study the different translations between representations. Taking into account the most important task variables in this type of problems, we have studied the accuracy in estimating correlation coefficients, and the students’ strategies to solve these tasks. We have identified two factors relating the tasks and strategies. We conclude with some implications for the teaching of the topic.