Data Explorations: Secondary Students’ Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Toward Working with Data

Tobias Irish; Alan Berkowitz; Cornelia Harris

doi:10.29333/ejmste/103063

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Tobias Irish ¹ ^* , Alan Berkowitz ², Cornelia Harris ²

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¹ University of Hawaii at Hilo, School of Education, 200 W. Kawili St. 96720, USA² Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The Data Explorations in Ecology Project was a professional development and research project designed to address data literacy issues in secondary science classrooms. Curricular modules focusing on locally relevant environmental issues were developed and implemented to support students in gaining proficiency with a variety of data exploration practices. The research focused on highlighting students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes toward these practices. The findings indicate that students across grade levels are able to demonstrate proficiency with some data exploration practices but have difficulty applying these skills to the creation and evaluation of data-driven arguments about the environment. The findings also indicate that despite the difficulties secondary students have with some data exploration practices, some still enjoy and appreciate the usefulness of working with data. This study introduces a conceptual framework that illustrates some of the data exploration activities that occur at different phases of inquiry and critique processes.

Keywords

data literacy
ecology
environmental education
environmental literacy
secondary science education

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 15, Issue 6, June 2019, Article No: em1686

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103063

Publication date: 21 Jan 2019

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How to cite this article

APA

Irish, T., Berkowitz, A., & Harris, C. (2019). Data Explorations: Secondary Students’ Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Toward Working with Data. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(6), em1686. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103063

Vancouver

Irish T, Berkowitz A, Harris C. Data Explorations: Secondary Students’ Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Toward Working with Data. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2019;15(6):em1686. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103063

AMA

Irish T, Berkowitz A, Harris C. Data Explorations: Secondary Students’ Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Toward Working with Data. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2019;15(6), em1686. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103063

Chicago

Irish, Tobias, Alan Berkowitz, and Cornelia Harris. "Data Explorations: Secondary Students’ Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Toward Working with Data". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2019 15 no. 6 (2019): em1686. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103063

Harvard

Irish, T., Berkowitz, A., and Harris, C. (2019). Data Explorations: Secondary Students’ Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Toward Working with Data. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(6), em1686. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103063

MLA

Irish, Tobias et al. "Data Explorations: Secondary Students’ Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Toward Working with Data". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 15, no. 6, 2019, em1686. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103063