Middle school students' interest in statistical literacy

This paper presents the results of a research review into the development of middle school students’ interest in statistical literacy. In particular it reviews the concept of interest and its motivational influence on learning. Findings reveal that very little research has examined the influence of positive affect such as interest on learning in the middle-school statistics context. Further, these findings suggest that interest development will be the result of a complex interplay of classroom influences and individual factors such as: students’ knowledge of statistics, their enjoyment of statistics and their perceptions of competency in relation to the learning of statistics.