Digital technology is indispensable for doing and learning statistics. When technology is used in mathematics education, the learning of concepts and the development of techniques for using a digital tool are known to intertwine. So far, this intertwinement of techniques and conceptual understanding, known as instrumental genesis, has received little attention in research on technology-supported statistics education. This study focuses on instrumental genesis for statistical modeling, investigating students’ modeling processes in a digital environment called TinkerPlots. In particular, we analyzed how emerging techniques and conceptual understanding intertwined in the instrumentation schemes that 28 students (aged 14–15) develop. We identified six common instrumentation schemes and observed a two-directional intertwining of emerging techniques and conceptual understanding. Techniques for using TinkerPlots helped students to reveal context-independent patterns that fostered a conceptual shift from a model of to a model for. Vice versa, students’ conceptual understanding led to the exploration of more sophisticated digital techniques. We recommend researchers, educators, designers, and teachers involved in statistics education using digital technology to attentively consider this two-directional intertwined relationship.

数字技术对于进行和学习统计数据必不可少。在数学教育中使用技术时，众所周知，概念的学习和使用数字工具的技术的发展是相互交织的。迄今为止，这种技术和概念理解的交织（称为工具起源）在技术支持的统计教育研究中很少受到关注。这项研究的重点是用于统计建模的工具生成，研究学生在称为TinkerPlots的数字环境中的建模过程。特别是，我们分析了新兴技术和概念理解如何与28名学生（14至15岁）开发的仪器仪表方案相互交织。我们确定了六个常见的仪器仪表方案，并观察到新兴技术和概念理解的双向交织。使用TinkerPlots的技术帮助学生揭示与上下文无关的模式，从而促进了模型的概念转变的到模型的。反之亦然，学生对概念的理解导致对更复杂的数字技术的探索。我们建议使用数字技术参与统计教育的研究人员，教育者，设计师和教师应认真考虑这种双向交织的关系。