Collaborative Research: Streams of Data: Nurturing Data Literacy in Young Science Learners

数据流：通过一项关于小学生如何利用专业收集的真实世界数据的研究来告知科学、技术、工程和数学课程设计对于使用科学数据集来说，数据素养是必不可少的，但教育工作者对如何让学生准备好从数据中做出适当推断所涉及的问题知之甚少。现有的研究使用了学生自己收集的数据集，而在公共领域激增的许多电子数据集构成了不同的挑战，这一事实加剧了这种需求。这个项目将开发和研究一种方法来支持四年级学生的数据素养，使用复杂的、大规模的、专业收集的数据集。这项工作将侧重于将分析思维作为数据素养的一个子集，特别是评估和解释数据。该项目将教授学生如何使用地球科学数据，这些数据与自然界可观察到的、熟悉的方面相联系，并与地球科学课程标准保持一致。一个由教育发展中心数据海洋研究所和美国地质研究所的教育工作者、研究人员和科学家组成的跨学科团队将(1)进行基线研究，以了解学生理解复杂数据和现象的推论的天然亲和力；(2)开发和测试利用学生的智力资产并利用专业收集的数据将分析思维障碍降至最低的脚手架活动；以及(3)检查由此产生的活动在多大程度上支持学生利用专业收集的数据进行富有成效的工作。在开发一种教学方法时，该项目一般告知如何通过专业收集的科学数据来支持小学生培养数据素养技能。假设科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教育一般可以受益于教学使用复杂的、大型的、交互的和专业收集的(CLIP)数据集(例如，与降水、溪流和地下水位有关)，本研究将探索将这些数据整合到四年级课堂教学中的方法。这项研究的前提是，与推迟到中学上课时接触CLIP数据的情况相比，在课堂STEM经历早期接触CLIP数据的学生将更早培养出促进对这些数据进行有意义分析的技能和态度。该项目将采用三阶段迭代设计，将在弗吉尼亚州和马里兰州的三个城市和郊区学区展开。第一阶段将侧重于为学生在从数据中进行推理时所采用的推理建立基线。它将有45名来自3-5年级的学生参加有针对性的访谈，这些访谈将被录音、转录和分析。第二阶段和第三阶段将集中于四年级的设计和开发。第二阶段将通过迭代设计计划来开发和测试活动，该计划采用半临床方法，由一小群学生组成。第三阶段将在三个区的六个教室开展这一进程产生的活动，约有150名学生。在第二阶段将构建一个反映学生学习情况的评分标准，并在第三阶段用于衡量实地测试的影响。观察和访谈也将在实地进行，以了解学生从这些活动中学到了什么关于分析思维的知识。探索研究K-12计划(DRK-12)旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高K-12学龄前学生和教师在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)方面的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和经验上的证明。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Streams of Data: Informing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Curriculum Design Through a Study of How Elementary Students Make Meaning of Professionally Collected Real-World Data Data literacy is essential for working with scientific data sets, but educators know very little about how to prepare students for the issues involved in making appropriate inferences from data. This need is compounded by the fact that studies that exist have worked with data sets that students themselves collected, whereas the many electronic data sets, proliferating in the public domain, pose different challenges. This project will develop and study an approach to support fourth grade students' data literacy with complex, large-scale, professionally collected data sets. The work will focus on analytical thinking as a subset of data literacy, specifically evaluating and interpreting data. The project will teach students about working with geoscience data, which connect to observable, familiar aspects of the natural world and align with Earth science curriculum standards. An interdisciplinary team of educators, researchers, and scientists from the Oceans of Data Institute at Educational Development Center and the American Geological Institute will (1) conduct baseline research to understand students' natural affinities for understanding inference from complex data and phenomena; (2) develop and test scaffolding activities that leverage students' intellectual assets and minimize barriers to analytical thinking with professionally collected data; and (3) examine the degree to which the resulting activities support students to do productive work with professionally collected data. In developing an instructional approach, the project informs generally how professionally collected, scientific data can be used to support elementary students to develop data literacy skills. Hypothesizing that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education generally can benefit from the instructional use of complex, large, interactive, and professionally-collected (CLIP) data sets (e.g., related to precipitation, stream flow, and groundwater levels), this study will explore approaches to integrating those data into fourth grade classroom instruction. The research is based on a premise that students who engage with CLIP data early in their classroom STEM experiences will develop skills and attitudes that promote meaningful analyses of those data earlier than if that exposure is delayed until secondary courses. The project will use a three-phase iterative design that will unfold in three urban and suburban school districts in Virginia and Maryland. Phase one will focus on creating a baseline of the reasoning students employ when making inferences from data. It will involve 45 students from grades 3-5 in targeted interviews, which will be recorded, transcribed and analyzed. Phases two and three will focus on design and development in grade 4. Phase two will develop and test activities through an iterative design plan that employs a semi-clinical method with small groups of students. Phase three will implement the activities that result from that process in six classrooms across three districts with approximately 150 students. A scoring rubric that captures student learning will be constructed in phase two and used to measure impacts of the field testing in phase three. Observations and interviews will also be conducted at field sites to understand what students learn about analytical thinking from the activities. The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.