Student Collaboration to Build Joint Understanding of Data

• In Event: 54.027 - Best Practices in Peer and Collaborative Learning

Abstract

Data literacy in the classroom is emphasized in current curricular standards; making sense with data is an interdisciplinary gateway skill that helps students make connections between academic content and broader themes. Teaching students how to interpret and discuss data collaboratively can improve scientific literacy and provides students with a 21st century skill set. In this paper, we report on a study of three groups of middle school students working on a computer-supported collaborative problem solving task, which consisted of multiple sources of data. Analysis of video and transcripts indicated that students were more comfortable discussing familiar data, and rarely considered multiple data in their conversations without being explicitly. Implications for the design of future activities are discussed.

Authors

• Susan Bromley Kelly, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

• Luettamae Lawrence

• Emma M. Mercier, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign