Thank you for your question David. Each of the modules we developed includes a "data orientation" section where students identify and discuss the sources of the data. Some of the modules go into more depth about the process for collecting the data, particularly when the process is complex (e.g. at the beginning of our module on exoplanets). 

Hi Bill, how are you supporting teachers in integrating these into already packed curricula?

Also, how highly curated are the data - the student seems to be convinced about climate change, but some of the most sophisticated misinformation campaigns use the data to make specious interpretations - are you introducing the students to any of that?

Great questions Katie, thank you for them.

First, you're right about the 'already packed curriculum' problem. Recognizing this, we're doing three things. First, we're tackling topics that are prominent in the standard curriculum - evolution in biology, plate tectonics in earth science, etc.; second we're providing support for something that teachers say they need help with — writing about the data (claims/evidence/reasoning); third, we're trying our best to keep the modules reasonably short (that said, we recognize many teachers will NOT have time for a data-rich investigation that take 3-4 class sessions.) 

Second, the question of how we combat misinformation and propagandistic, perhaps specious uses of data is acute. It likely needs to be confronted directly, through teaching about common uses of data to mislead and distort, as well as indirectly (as we are here) by building students' skills in working directly with real data, seeing themselves how it can be made to say different things in all kinds of ways; essentially helping students learn to both value and question the "data moves" through which we are increasingly apprehending the world. 

Thank you for your interest! Right now we are piloting the earth science data modules with a small sample of 12 teachers, and just beginning to take a look at evidence of student learning after using the module. Whether they can transfer these skills to other contexts is an interesting question--one that we would love to explore in future studies. Is this something you have seen in your work? 

Thank you Sharon for the links! I didn't know about these resources....

Thanks Cristian--it would be great to hear more about your experience with CODAP and ideas for how Zoom In might be relevant. I'll follow-up with you directly.

I am having the same questions. When and how will these resources be available? This is exactly the area teachers are struggling with finding accessible and reliable sources. Thank you Zoom In! team.

Hi Mary and Karin - thank you for your interest in using these modules. Right now we are still in the piloting stage of developing the modules and associated teacher supports, so the modules are not yet available public use. Once we finish the piloting, we plan to make some more changes to the platform and modules and then make available for public use, probably next spring. If you are interested in participating in the study, please let me know!  

To answer your second question, Mary, right now students are not able to load their own data into the platform. 

That's a great question, Abigail! We are fortunate in that as we are developing the ZiSci project, we have also been working on lessons aimed at middle schoolers for National Geographic, as well as working with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute on data-focused curriculum modules for 5th and 6th graders around the topic of climate change. There has been a great deal of cross-pollination among all three projects, particularly around data analysis and visualization tools (Concord Consortium's CODAP tool is common across all three projects), and the use of the claims/evidence/reasoning model. The very rigorous focus on a scaffolded writing task, central to the ZoomIn! learning platform, has helped shape our thinking on how to support younger students in constructing an argument using data as evidence.

With that said, there are things we've needed to keep in mind as we work with younger students. For instance, there is an important transition that happens between 5th and 6th grade, where students shift from thinking about individual data points (e.g., plotting points on a graph) to thinking about data in aggregate (e.g., plotting a trend line through a dataset in a scatter plot). And for some kids, a scatterplot alone may represent a new and unfamiliar way of looking at data!

As we pilot these new materials with students and teachers, we are looking carefully at what data skills are relevant and appropriate for our target grade levels. We are also reminded that effective facilitation is critical, and that data-driven, inquiry-based learning may be new territory for many teachers. This underlines the need for good professional development and ongoing educator support.

Great questions Amy, and ones that we are still grappling with as we develop the modules. The data are relatively curated and align tightly to the inquiry, for the most part. The complexity of the data varies depending on the module in terms of number of variables that students can use, as does the content support. Our largest dataset within a module so far is about 9,000 cases, with about 13 variables. 

Balancing scaffolding of content knowledge, data and math skills and knowledge and how to use the tools themselves has been a challenge throughout development. The implementation study, which we are in the process of conducting, is taking a closer look at how much content knowledge students seem to need to engage in the modules, and the extent to which teachers are supporting content knowledge outside of the modules as well, which should inform the next iteration of each module. 

Your questions hits at one of the biggest struggles we faced in developing the modules - how to scaffold students' experiences while also encouraging student-directed exploration of the data.  In our initial testing, the modules did not include much scaffolding and we found that students and teachers got frustrated, as you suggest. Understanding how to use the data analysis platform, the science content, and the data skills and math was overwhelming--as a result, we added in more scaffolds to the platform and suggestions for supports the teacher should provide. I think it is possible to provide students with a more open-ended experience but that this would have to follow the more scaffolded one. This question is something we would like to work on in future research. 

Yes, the modules include visual displays of the data including tables, maps and graphs (which are connected--highlighting a row in a table highlights a point in a graph and a map when displayed together), and both numerical and categorical data. It does not work well on an iPad platform, however.