Research project

Verbal Probability Expressions

Project overview

This idea for this project arose from an interest in the use of ‘probability expressions’ in the media and across maths and science. Risk and uncertainty are often communicated with verbal probability expressions (VPEs): expressions such as “unlikely,” “possible,” and “likely.” Such expressions are, it is believed, so vaguely understood that there is an “illusion of communication”: speaker and hearer believe that they understand each other but, in fact, do not. This study builds on other work in the field and seeks to collect more data to increase understanding of how different groups of people understand these sorts of words. Our current data collection focuses on secondary school-age students and university students for whom English is not their first language.

Staff

Lead researchers

Dr Rosalyn Hyde BSc(Hons), PGCE, MA(Ed), MPhil(ResMeth), PhD,SFHEA

Principal Teaching Fellow

Research interests

  • Teacher Education
  • Secondary mathematics teacher knowledge
  • Teaching for Mastery approaches in England
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Professor Christian Bokhove

Professor

Research interests

  • Mathematics education in the classroom
  • Technology use in schools
  • Research methods
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Dr Ran Peleg

Lecturer

Research interests

  • Game based learning 
  • Chemistry education
  • Innovation in teaching and learning
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Research outputs