Building Informal Inference in Grade 7

This study reports on the second phase of a design experiment involving classroom implementation of a sequence of four lessons introducing informal inference supported by TinkerPlots software to a grade 7 class. A Beginning Inference Framework was used as an implicit foundation for the teachers and as an explicit rubric for assessing students’ observed outcomes. Outcomes were judged in relation to saved TinkerPlots files annotated with student-completed text boxes and to individual interviews with 12 of the students.