Thinking with Data: the Context

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Challenges to Cross-Disciplinary Curricula Data
Literacy and Divergent Disciplinary Perspectives
www.rcet.org/twd/index.html
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Thinking with Data (TWD) Primary Goal
Develop middle school students deep
understanding of data literacy across the
curriculum.
We use data every dayto choose medications or
health practices, to decide on a place to live,
or to make judgments about education policy and
practice. The newspapers and TV news are full of
data about nutrition, side effects of popular
drugs, and polls for current elections. Surely
there is valuable information here, but how do
you judge the reliability of what you read, see,
or hear? This is no trivial skilland we are not
preparing students to make these critical and
subtle distinctions. -- Andee Rubin
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TWD and Data Literacy

• Context
• Water situation in the Tigris/Euphrates 8 US
  watersheds
• U.N. convention states that international water
  courses should be used in an equitable and
  reasonable manner
• Anchor in fairness
• Of comparisons, e.g. water distribution
• Of measures, e.g. per capita distribution
• Of arguments, e.g. accurate, relevant, complete
• Core domain content (using real-world data)
• SS water sharing among Turkey, Syria Iraq
• Math proportional reasoning
• Science impact of technology on water
  availability and quality
• ELA persuasive arguments
• Grounded in a preparation for future learning
  (PFL) pedagogical approach

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TWD Modules Materials

• Four 2-week, integrated replacement modules
• For implementation in 7th grade social studies,
  mathematics, science, and English Language arts
  classes
• Modules were implemented sequentially, with no
  other requirements for coordination
• The modules address issues of data
  representation, proportional reasoning, and
  argumentation using real data in
  discipline-specific problem-solving contexts
• Assessments included
• An overall data literacy assessment (TWD and
  comparison)
• Math and Science assessments (TWD only)
• ELA final projects (TWD only)

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Argumentation

• in social studies, all argumentation is context
  dependant
• in mathematics, argumentation is proof of
  absolute truth
• in science, argumentation is a search for the
  most parsimonious explanation
• in ELA, argumentation is more about form than
  content, uncovering a horizon of possibilities

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Social Studies Argumentation is Contextual

• Turkeys position
• Turkey is basing its claims on the sovereignty
  principle. It is saying that the rivers are
  transboundary, meaning that it has control over
  the rivers while they are in Turkey, just like
  other natural resources such as oil or coal.
• Suleyman Demirel (President of Turkey) at the
  1992 dedication of the Ataturk Dam Neither
  Syria nor Iraq can lay claim to Turkeys rivers
  any more than Ankara could claim their oil The
  water resources are Turkeys, the oil resources
  are theirs. We dont say we share their oil
  resources, and they cant say they share our
  water resources.

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Social Studies Argumentation is Contextual

• Syrias position
• Syria argues they've always used the water from
  the Euphrates and their right to use it should be
  no different today or in the future. They say it
  is an international river, and Turkey should not
  be able to decide on its own how much water from
  the Euphrates flows into Syria and Iraq. This is
  called the historical principle.
• Syria wants to share the water in the Tigris and
  Euphrates through a mathematical formula with
  each State shall declaring its demands on the
  rivers separately.

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Social Studies Argumentation is Contextual

• Iraqs position
• Iraq also argues the historical principle, that
  they have been using the water from the Tigris
  and Euphrates for thousands of years, that they
  are international rivers, and Turkey should not
  be able to decide on its own how much water from
  the Tigris and Euphrates it will let flow into
  Syria and Iraq.
• Iraq wants to share the water using a different
  mathematical formula. Each country will notify a
  three-country committee of its water demand for
  each project that is completed, under
  construction, or planned. The committee will then
  calculate the demands for water and decide. In
  addition, Iraq wants Turkey to release more water
  in the Euphrates river, to be more equitable and
  fair.

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Mathematics Argumentation is search for
absolute truth
Which is least salty?
A
B
C
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Science Argumentation is Support for
Explanations
To dam or not to dam?
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Science/ELA Web Research Using News Accounts
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English Language Arts Argumentation is Formal
in Nature
data
data
data
data
Argument
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What did students learn?

• TWD students had very significant gains (ES
  1.24) on a data literacy assessment when compared
  with other 7th graders in their schools (between
  subjects)
• TWD students had significant gains in core math
  and science content assessments (within subjects)
• Students culminating ELA projects demonstrated
  high performance with regard to written, oral
  visual communication of data-driven arguments
  (within subjects)
• This is really the best set of essays Ive
  ever gotten and this is probably one of the
  lowest groups of students Ive ever had ELA
  teacher

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When you first started, you didnt really
understand it. But after switching social
studies, math, science, language arts -- you do
things different ways. Every class has some
different way to understand. -- 7th grade
student
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www.rcet.org/twd/index.html kswan4_at_kent.edu phil
ip.vahey_at_sri.com mvanthoo_at_kent.edu