The growing emphasis on the development of research abilities positions the presentation and interpretation of data as activities of increasing importance. Being competent in interpreting data representations is essential to understanding the modern world and to being a scientifically literate citizen. Tables are used daily, but it is not easy to understand the different cognitive processes that tables activate. It is important to know how to read, complete, build, and interpret tables. There is controversy about what to teach first with respect to graphs, but there is no controversy about what to teach regarding tables. Given subjects' difficulties with tables, the research centers on them and contributes to  the  school  science curriculum and  to  teaching  and  learning  practices.  This  article presents the state of the art regarding tables from 1977 to 2012. The search and revision of the statistics bibliography referring to tables included scientific articles, books, dissertations, talks in international conferences, and school curricula from some countries. This study shows tables’ apparent simplicity, proposes a generic table structure, and provides arguments and guidelines for tables being explicitly taught, given their broad insertion in our culture.

Statistical Representations; Tables; Tabular format; Scientific literacy