Andee Rubin

Data science is fast becoming a dominant part of scientific, economic, and social scientific reasoning, as well as a necessary perspective for making life decisions that rely on data. But there is little work in either research or development with students younger than 2nd grade, and even less focusing on children not yet in kindergarten. By expanding knowledge in an emergent content area where young children are currently underserved, this set of three workshops will build capacity to create rigorous, equitable, inclusive, and culturally responsive data science teaching resources, a necessity for school readiness in the early childhood years.

This research study examines the potential of integrating student-driven explorations of multivariate civic datasets with middle school social studies content. It uses a collaborative co-design process to develop data-rich experiences for the social studies classroom crafted to 1) deepen students’ data literacy, 2) develop students’ sense of efficacy in working with civic data, and 3) create data experiences that are meaningful and relevant to students and their communities.

Visit our project website to learn more about the project and access resources, readings, and opportunities to get involved: https://www.terc.edu/civic-data-project/about-the-project/.

This is a continuing research project that supports (1) creation of what are termed "ink inscriptions"--handwritten sketches, graphs, maps, notes, etc. made on a computer using a pen-based interface, and (2) in-class communication of ink inscriptions via a set of connected wireless tablet computers. The primary products are substantiated research findings on the use of tablet computers, inscriptions, and networks in 4th/5th grade classrooms as well as models for teacher education and use.

This exploratory project seeks to understand the role that a network of tablet computers may play in elementary and middle school math and science classrooms. The project uses classroom observations, student interviews, teacher interviews, and student artifacts to identify the advantages and disadvantages of these resources, to understand what challenges and benefits they offer to teachers, and to offer recommendations for future hardware, software, and curriculum development.