Thinking With Data

Phil Vahey, Melissa Koch, Yesica Lopez, Charles Patton, Louise Yarnall, Dan Zalles

The Thinking With Data (TWD) initiative addresses the development and use of technology to increase the data literacy of teachers and students. TWD promotes engagement with statistics, probability and scientific inquiry across the curriculum, preparing students to use the increasing amount of societal and scientific data available on the Internet.

Through this initiative, CTL seeks to design a series of tools that are dynamic, flexible, and Web-based, to support data analysis across the curriculum. We aim to help learners with diverse skills and interests develop inquiry and data analysis skills to understand and use online data sets in mathematics, science, and social science. Our approach is to make statistics come alive by emphasizing cutting-edge, learner-centered data visualization tools; relevance through customization of datasets; dynamic interaction with data, and collaboration and community as teachers and learners investigate compelling social science topics. The environment will leverage existing tools and incorporate new ones developed by the TWD team.

Through an interdisciplinary team-based approach with teachers and experts in math, science, and social studies, as well as software developers, producers, and researchers, we will create powerful Web-based learning tools for schools and informal settings.

In parallel with this development we will conduct research on increasing the data literacy of teachers and students. In the process, the team will research how an interdisciplinary approach to data literacy can deepen students' conceptual understanding in the content areas and improve their problem-solving skills.

Publications

Research Areas

Assessment
Evaluation
Learning Environments
Technology Development

Keywords 

data analysis
data literacy
handhelds
mathematics education
preparation for future learning
science education
social science education
thinking with data