Abstract
Building Data Literacy, Visualization, and Inquiry in Geoscience Education
Track: Educational Research and Teacher Education
Author(s): Dan Zalles, Janice Gobert, Amy Pallant, Edys Quellmalz
In the NSF-funded project Data Sets and Inquiry in Geoscience Education, we have developed curriculum units and performance assessments for high school students about plate tectonics and micro-climate change. The units prompt critical examination of real data using geospatial and time-referenced visualization tools. We address:
1. What ranges of skills and understandings do students exhibit?
2. What instructional designs can provide students with opportunities to become adept at using appropriate data visualization technologies for carrying out real-world inquiry and problem-solving tasks?
3. What assessment tasks can provide valid and reliable data about students' knowledge and skills (visualization, data literacy, and inquiry)?
Our units have been piloted with individual students as well as in classrooms. Our findings are that curriculum units and performance assessments can be designed to effectively promote and assess content knowledge and skills and that scaffolding is needed in order for students to use the software effectively.
Dan Zalles
SRI
Center for Technology in Learning
333 Ravenswood Ave.
Menlo Park , CA 94025
US
Phone: 650-859-5248
E-mail: daniel.zalles@sri.com
Janice Gobert
Concord Consortium
25 Love Lane
Concord , MA 01742
US
Phone: (978) 405-3200
E-mail: jgobert@concord.org
Amy Pallant
Concord Consortium
25 Love Lane
Concord , CA 01742
US
Phone: (978) 405-3200
E-mail: apallant@concord.org
Edys Quellmalz
SRI International
Center for Technology in Learning
333 Ravenswood Ave.
Menlo Park , CA 94025
US
Phone: 650-859-4826
E-mail: edys.quellmalz@sri.com