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Abstract
Over the last decade, a growing body of research has explored how teachers notice students mathematical thinking as evidence of teaching practices endorsed by the mathematics education reform. Recently, researchers in statistics education have also encouraged teachers to be aware of students statistical reasoning rather than focusing on their performance in statistics courses. Little is known, however, about the ways prospective teachers (PSTs) notice in the contexts of teaching and learning of statistics. In this dissertation study, three studies were designed to fill this gap. Various types of instruments were used to examine PSTs noticing in different contexts of statistics.In the first study, I examined classroom features PSTs attended to as they viewed a whole-class statistics lesson video. Findings indicated that most PSTs identified the teachers pedagogical decisions as noteworthy, and the PSTs were attentive to these actions when prompted. The classroom environment was not identified as an interesting feature for the PSTs, but they did attend to it when prompted. Some PSTs identified the discourse of a particular group of students as noteworthy, but many PSTs had difficulties attending to multiple students thinking in this context. In the second study, I focused on PSTs noticing of students reasoning about mean and variability as described in a current statistics curriculum in the United States. Findings showed that the PSTs had difficulties attending to and interpreting students reasoning about variability. There was a gradation in their noticing skill, ranging from those who showed no evidence of differentiating between students reasoning and made general pedagogical suggestions to those who identified the relevant statistical elements in students answers as well as differentiating between students developmental levels and decided how to respond based on students understanding.In the third study, I investigated how PSTs noticed students reasoning about variability in a comparing distributions situation. I proposed a framework for examining the ways PSTs notice students statistical thinking. Findings indicated that when making instructional decisions, the PSTs neither attended to the statistical elements explicitly used by students nor interpreted students understanding of variability. Implications for researchers and teacher educators are discussed.