Statistical thinking models

Models for statistical modes of thinking and problem solving have been developed, and continue to be developed, by teachers and researchers. The purpose of these models range from helping to understand how individual students solve problems to developing instruments for educational research. These models have arisen with particular perspectives and primary uses in mind. In this paper we compare and contrast some statistical thinking models originating from statistics education research (Ben-Zvi & Friedlander, 1997; Jones, Thornton, Langrall, Mooney, Perry & Putt, 2000) with some models arising from the discipline of statistics and sub-disciplines (Wild & Pfannkuch, 1999; Hoerl & Snee, 2001). Drawing upon models from both these areas we discuss issues that include their development and use, how they might illuminate one another and what we can learn from them.