Open AccessChildren learning probability through the “bunny’s random walks” game
Author(s) -
Ulisses Silva Guimarães,
Aida Vita,
Verônica Yumi Kataoka
Publication year - 2015
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.52041/srap.15102
Subject(s) - randomness , probabilistic logic , random walk , computer science , term (time) , literacy , mathematics education , artificial intelligence , psychology , mathematics , statistics , pedagogy , physics , quantum mechanics
The purpose of this paper was to investigate the learning of basic concepts of probability by children through a game. The design of this study was the game application “Bunny’s random walks”, involving the concepts of equiprobability, chance and randomness, with 17 elementary students from a public school in Brazil. The participants were asked about a ‘fair’ way (intuitive, informal term for equiprobable, same chance) and unpredictable (intuitive, informal term for random) to choose who would start a game but the students proposed different ways, some not equally likely (using child songs), while others, though equally probable and random. It is observed that the use of playful activities similar to this game can help build probabilistic concepts and contribute to the development of the probabilistic literacy of children. The importance of this study is to contribute to studies about teaching and learning of probability to children through games.