SBIR/STTR Phase II: Census Microdata in the Classroom

这个SBIR第二阶段项目建议研究如何在中学和大学的数学课程中提高美国和其他国家人口普查的微观数据的可及性和利用率。通过与明尼苏达州人口中心网络服务器的无缝、XML驱动的接口，教师和学生可以指定、请求这些微数据，并将其导入Fathom动态统计软件。对Fathom软件的改进将增加其使用人口普查微观数据的已经相当容易和强大的能力；数学课程材料将为教师提供开始使用这一极具激励作用的数据的有效方法--既教授现有内容，也教授数据扫盲。第一阶段的研究表明，人口普查微数据与K-12学校收集的关于学生人口统计和表现、课程设置和课堂实践的学校人口普查微数据非常相似。因此，第二阶段利用这种重叠来产生非常需要的接口，以方便地访问学校人口普查微观数据，为产生这些数据提供调查工具，并扩展Fathom以分析这些数据。KCP Technologies的人口普查微数据项目利用了美国学校中不断融合的网络连接，从而共生地适应了学校技术发展的更大模式。该项目提供了一种产品，通过易于使用的界面支持复杂数据的分析，这将有助于数据分析和从数据分析中学习。美国教育非常需要在这个项目下产生的各种软件和课程资源

This SBIR Phase II project proposes to research ways to increase accessibility and utilization of microdata from censuses of the U.S. and other countries in secondary school and college courses in mathematics. A seamless, XML-driven interface to a web server at the Minnesota Population Center will make it possible for teachers and students to specify, request, and import this microdata into Fathom Dynamic Statistics software. Enhancements to Fathom software will increase its already considerable ease and power for working with census microdata; curriculum materials in mathematics will provide teachers with effective ways to begin working with this highly motivating data--both to teach existing content and to teach data literacy. Phase I research suggested strong similarities between census microdata and school census microdata data that is gathered by K-12 schools about student demographics and performance, course offerings, and classroom practice. Accordingly, Phase II leverages this overlap to produce greatly needed interfaces for easily accessing school census microdata, survey tools for producing it, and extensions to Fathom for analyzing it. KCP Technologies' census microdata project exploits the merging web connectivity in American schools, thus symbiotically fitting a larger pattern of evolution of school technologies. The project offers a product that supports analysis of complex data through an easy-to-use interface which will contribute to data anlysis and learning from data analysis. U.S. education is very much in need of the kinds of software and curriculum resources to be produced under this project