Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The detection of pattern and co‐variation in tabulated data is expected in many areas of the curriculum. While students familiar with the convention may be able to do this, it is often at an incomplete and imprecise level. A study of some 11‐12 year‐old students' comprehension of tabulated data showed that requiring them to predict table entries tended to increase the completeness and precision of their later descriptions of the situation described by the data. Given the satisfaction of certain preconditions, this could be a strategy which lends itself to application in the classroom. The study is discussed in the context of the mental model analogy and inferencing theory.</jats:p>