Engaging Second Graders in Data Science Practices Using Pokémon

• In Event: Embodied Participation: Creative Entries of Teacher Education

Abstract

This qualitative case study is part of a participatory-design research project to improve rural elementary teachers’ capacity to hone students’ data science skills. This paper focuses on a single case detailing a second-grade teacher’s approach towards offering data science curriculum to second graders. Connected learning theory guided ways the teacher engaged with data science literacies. We use narrative case study methodology to describe the teacher’s instructional practices and understand her data science unit co-design and implementation process. We analyzed classroom observations, reflective journals, interviews, and artifacts. This case is an example for educators interested in honing data science literacies in early elementary school classrooms and deepening children’s engagement with data science through relevant problems, discipline integration, and interest-based learning activities.

Authors

• Danielle C. Herro, Clemson University

• Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens, Vanderbilt University