Engaging Everyday Science Knowledge to Help Make Sense of Data

Authors

Susan B. Kelly, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
LuEttaMae Lawrence, Utah State UniversityFollow
Emma Mercier, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Document Type

Conference Paper

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Conference, CSCL

Volume

2

Publisher

Springer New York LLC

Publication Date

1-1-2017

First Page

581

Last Page

584

Abstract

Making sense of data to inform decisions is an important skill emphasized in current curriculum documents (NRC, 2012). Making sense of data through personal experiences and prior knowledge is one way that students can begin to understand multiple and unfamiliar data sources. This paper examines how middle school students used different data sources when engaged in a collaborative problem solving activity using a multi-touch table during classroom science instruction. In this study, we found that students made personal connections when talking about data. Students engaged in data talk across all conversation quality levels, but the ways students interacted and talked about data varied. Connecting to students’ everyday experiences could provide an access point for more complex science content understanding and synthesis and improve student data literacy skills.

Recommended Citation

Kelly, S. B., Lawrence, L., & Mercier, E. (2017). Engaging everyday science data to help make sense of data. In Making a Difference—Prioritizing Equity and Access in CSCL: The 12th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning. (pp. 581-584). Philadelphia, USA.