Exploring Incongruities Between Local Maps, Data, and Students’ Sense of Place

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Supporting Student Self-Efficacy in Mathematics Education (Table 9)

Abstract

Despite many affordances, the use of local data in statistics and mathematics learning environments can introduce unexpected challenges. In this proposal, we examine how map-based data tools do not always align with students’ senses of place when students investigate local data. We analyzed the implementation of two curricular units designed for high school youth to study their city with data: 1) patterns in lottery spending by neighborhood and 2) its spatial distribution of financial institutions. We present two examples that illustrate if the maps’ underlying model of place does not sufficiently build on students’ senses of place, that learning goals of using local data to prompt critical reflection and action could not be fully achieved.

Authors

• Lee Melvin M. Peralta, Michigan State University

• Jennifer Beth Kahn, University of Miami

• Beth A. Herbel-Eisenmann, Michigan State University

• Vivian Y. Lim, Guttman Community College - CUNY

• Laurie Rubel, University of Haifa

• Travis Weiland, University of North Carolina - Charlotte