Using Technology to Think with Data
across the Curriculum
Mark van ‘t Hooft, Karen Swan, Annette Kratcoski, & Evren Koptur
Kent State University
Research Center for Educational Technology
NECC Conference, San Antonio, Texas
July 2008
Overview
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Why Data Literacy?
Project Goals and Objectives
Unit Background: Thinking with Data
Digital Tools and Thinking with Data
Sample Activity
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ESI-0628122.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the
author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Why Data Literacy?
“We use data every day—to choose medications or
health practices, to decide on a place to live, or to
make judgments about education policy and practice.
The newspapers and TV news are full of data about
nutrition, side effects of popular drugs, and polls for
current elections. Surely there is valuable information
here, but how do you judge the reliability of what you
read, see, or hear? This is no trivial skill—and we
are not preparing students to make these critical
and subtle distinctions.”
-- Andee Rubin
Goals & Objectives
 Develop a modular, interdisciplinary middle school unit, consisting of
a series of four subject area modules that:
 support deep student understanding of standards-based
content & processes in four disciplines: Social Studies,
Mathematics, Science, & English Language Arts.
 use real-world data across the disciplines, allowing students
to engage in key aspects of data literacy both within & across the
disciplines.
 are based on recent & robust findings in cognition & instruction,
& specifically address the notion of transfer across the
curriculum (PFL).
 Integrate digital tools to support learning across modules.
 Create a set of assessments that measure student growth in data
literacy as well as unique disciplinary approaches to it.
Standards-Based Content
Data literacy
requirement
MS standards–
SS (NCSS)
MS standards–
math (NCTM)
MS standards–
science (NSES)
MS standards–
ELA (NCTE)
Formulate and
answer databased questions
“Formulate historical
questions, obtain data,
question &identify gaps
in data & construct
sound interpretations”
“Formulate questions,
design studies & collect
data about
characteristics shared
by 2 populations, or
different characteristics
within 1 population”
“Identify questions that
can be answered
through scientific
investigations; develop
the ability to refine &
refocus broad & illdefined questions”
“Conduct research on
issues & interests by
generating ideas &
questions & posing
problems”
Use appropriate
data, tools, &
representations
“Use appropriate
geographical tools such
as atlases, database
systems, charts, graphs
& maps to generate,
manipulate & interpret
information”
“Select, create & use
appropriate graphical
representations of data;
discuss & understand
the correspondence
between data sets &
their representations”
“Use appropriate tools &
techniques to gather,
analyze & interpret data,
guided by the question
asked & the
investigations designed”
“Gather, evaluate &
synthesize data from a
variety of sources to
communicate
discoveries in ways that
suit their purpose &
audience”
Develop and
evaluate databased inferences
& explanations
“Encourage increasingly
abstract thought as
learners use data &
apply skills in analyzing
human behavior in
relation to physical &
cultural environments.”
“Use observations about
differences between 2 or
more samples to make
conjectures about
populations, formulate
new questions, &
studies to answer them”
“Formulate questions,
design & execute
investigations, interpret
data, use evidence to
generate explanations;
propose alteratives &
critique explanations &
procedures”
“Use spoken, written &
visual language to
accomplish purposes
(eg. learning, enjoyment,
persuasion & exchange
of information)”
Unit Context: World Water Issues
Water Use in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin
(SS, Math, Science)
and in the United States (ELA)
"The Earth, with its diverse and abundant life forms, including over six billion
humans, is facing a serious water crisis. All the signs suggest that it is getting
worse and will continue to do so, unless corrective action is taken. The crisis is one
of governance, essentially caused by the ways in which humans have
mismanaged water.”
-- World Water Development Report (United Nations, 2000)
Real-World Data
Water Access and Use
250.00
213.60
cubic km
200.00
1. Total w ater access (in
cubic km)
150.00
100.00
50.00
1. Total w ater use (in cubic
km)
75.42
42.70
26.26 19.95
37.53
0.00
Iraq
Syria
country
Turkey
Pedagogical Approach: PFL
• A focus on “people’s abilities to to learn in knowledge-rich
environments”
• “Rather than evaluate whether people can generate a
finished product, the focus shifts to whether they are
prepared to learn to solve new problems”
Bransford & Schwartz. (2001). Rethinking Transfer: A Simple Proposal With
Multiple Implications.
Pedagogical Approach: PFL
Preparation for Future Learning
 preparing students to learn in one curricular context (SS),
 with formal learning occurring in another (Math), &
 extending the PFL approach to include application
(Science) &
 communication activities (ELA).
preparation
telling
application
communication
Social Studies
Mathematics
Science
English
Language Arts
Technology and Data Literacy
Knowing how to use digital and connected technology has become an
ever-increasing part of being literate, as technology has become the
“pen and paper of our time, … the lens through which we experience
much of our world”
-- Warlick, 2006
Large generalizations about ‘digital kids’ and their affinity for new styles
of learning have a pernicious consequence – they can blind us to the
actual literacy gaps that exist in children’s use of digital media. If using
digital tools well actually places cognitive demands on children that they
need help with, we’d better attend to and address them…. We are
beginning to recognize that the literacy demands of common media tools
vary according to the purpose to which they are put.
--Tally, 2007
Use of Digital Technology in the Modules
What we could/should use
vs
What the reality of school imposes
How do we deal most effectively with this tension, without
shortchanging learners?
How much choice can/should we provide as part of the basic
unit? Or should this just be a consideration for module
extensions?
What are the literacy demands that the use of digital
technologies for learning puts on students?
Use of Digital Technology in the Modules
Emphasis on simple tools
(for a variety of reasons, including access and scalability)
•Internet-based materials
•Word processor
•PowerPoint for content delivery
•Spreadsheets
•Digital maps
Fostering Data Literacy Across the Curriculum
Requires:
•input from across the disciplines, allowing each teacher
to remain a content expert
•but not imposing responsibility for teaching a new
discipline (data literacy) on teachers
Our approach:
•Investigate a complex, engaging, real-world problem
•Social studies sets the context
•Math is used for quantitative analysis
•Science investigates the context from a scientific
perspective, building upon analyses conducted in math
•ELA has students explore issues emerging from the data
and communicate positions regarding these
An Example
http://www.rcet.org/twd/index.html
Science Challenge
How does irrigation affect the soil?
amount of
agricultural
land
(km2 )
amount
of agricultural
land that is
irrigated
(km2 )
amount of
irrigated land
w/
salty soil
(km2 )
percent of
salty soil
w/ severe
salinity
problem
Iraq
60,190
33,050
24,457
4%
Syria
54,210
12,670
5,320
19%
Turkey
260,130
41,860
15,000
0%
Challenge Questions:
1. Which country depends the most on irrigation?
2. Put the countries in rank order based on the percentage of irrigated
land with salty soil.
3. Which country has the most salty soil with a severe salinity problem?
4. What do you think the relation is among rainfall, irrigation, and salty soil
problems?
Mass of salt ions in water (milliequivalents)
Challenge #2: What leads to salt runoff in the rivers?
6
5
4
Na (sodium)
3
Cl (chloride)
2
1
0
Tigris River at
Samarra
Tigris River at Euphrates River Diyala River at
Qurne
at Al Kaim
Diyala Weir
(Dam)
Tigris River at
Mosul
FLOOD PLAINS
RAINFED AGRICULTURE
IRRIGATED LAND
DESERT LAND - SYRIA
DESERT LAND - IRAQ
Challenge Questions:
1. Where is it most/least salty?
2. What types of land are near the most and least salty parts of the river?
3. What do you think is causing these problems?
Conclusions (Lessons Learned So Far)
• Data literacy is a part of all aspects of our lives,
including education. It is important to teach, but
not easy to do.
• Teaching it across the curriculum may help in
this matter.
• Integrating digital tools creates opportunities for
rich experiences for data literacy (variety of
resources; data manipulation in multiple formats;
media creation).
• Integrating digital tools creates challenges
(students’ and teachers’ technology literacy
levels; access).
http://www.rcet.org