THE INITIATION TO PROBABILISTIC THINKING THROUGH THE THEORY OF DIDACTICAL SITUATIONS DEVELOPED BY GUY BROUSSEAU

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to analyze and understand the development of probabilistic thinking in public school 6th grade students of an Elementary School situated in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, through the Theory of Didactical Situations developed by Guy Brousseau. This research started from a descriptive perspective, and then from a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data collected. A series of activities was elaborated to promote the interest of students for probabilities, namely: an Activity Diagnostic related to reason as a principle of conceptual elaboration about probability, four activities planned respecting the stages proposed by Guy Brousseau in his Theory and finally a questionnaire that demonstrated the success of the theory in the initiation to probabilistic thinking. These results established a fertile ground for debate and opened doors to new discoveries, possibilities and hypotheses not related to this research.