Toward Culturally Relevant Data Science: Exploring Sociopolitical Data in Guam and Saipan Math Classrooms

• In Event: Navigating Community Relations in Mathematics Education Equity Research: Insights from Early Career Scholars

Abstract

Research across the Pacific highlights the power of place-based tasks, home language use, and community-based learning to promote equity in mathematics (Hunter et al., 2022; Edmonds-Wathen et al., 2019). Yet Micronesian Islanders, particularly those from Guam and Saipan, remain underrepresented in this work. To address this, I worked in solidarity with teachers and local political scientists by positioning them as co-researchers. We collaboratively identified sociopolitical issues that mattered to them, co-designed lessons reflecting their expertise, and refined plans based on their feedback. As someone born and raised in Guam, this project is an act of returning, accountability, and honoring the people and places that raised me by doing research with, not about, them to ensure outcomes served their goals as much as my own.

My project involves co-developing and implementing culturally relevant data science lessons using sociopolitical data with two secondary math teachers in Guam and Saipan as well as local Chamorro political scientists. The objectives are two-fold: (1) to broaden participation in data science (and mathematics) and augment marginalized voices that are typically underrepresented in the field (Kerr et al., 2018); and (2) to collaboratively discover and generate culturally relevant data to amplify sociopolitical awareness to the issues surrounding Micronesia. Grounded in culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995) and critical mathematics education (Frankenstein, 1994; Gutstein, 2016), this study positions teachers and students as cultural leaders in math education through the use of culturally relevant data.

The overarching research question guiding this study is: How does engaging in culturally relevant data science lessons influence math teachers’ and students’ development of their sociopolitical consciousness? This study employs a collective case study design (Stake, 1995) with two math classrooms (one in Guam and one in Saipan) representing each case. Data sources from this study include teacher interviews, reflections, and lesson plans, as well as student work, reflections, and a student focus group. Using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis approach, data were coded to identify math teachers’ and students’ understanding of culturally relevant data science and the extent to which it helped to develop their sociopolitical consciousness.

Preliminary findings suggest that math teachers and students developed a sense of sociopolitical awareness after engaging with culturally relevant data science lessons. Teachers expressed doing this work helped them to realize that while there is extant sociopolitical data (e.g., teenage pregnancy rates), there is still data that needs to be collected, such as residents’ perceptions of island self-determination for example. They shared that although they have access to raw datasets, it’s not analyzed or interpreted, “like they are trying to keep it a secret from the public.” Students, meanwhile, have appreciated knowing more about the islands’ sociopolitical issues through the data science lessons. For example, after collecting data on CHamoru language frequency, students realized that the native language is “really starting to fade, especially with the younger generation,” confirming a local article reading about the issue as part of the lesson opener. Due to space limitations here, additional findings will be discussed during the session.

Author

• Richard Carlos L. Velasco, University of Florida