What’s the Deal with Data Science?

10/13/22 • 35 min

In this episode of Room to Grow, Curtis and Joanie dig into a conversation about data science. They start by trying to define what data science is, describing it as the intersection of content, statistics, computer science, problem solving. It is complex, and allows people to interact with information that content, statistics, or computer science couldn’t do alone. In our current technology and data rich world, this topic is timely, relevant, and growing in importance.

Curtis and Joanie describe data science as a process by which we start with a question we want to know the answer to, then gather, interpret, analyze, and model data that can help answer the question. Although we acknowledge that data science in school looks different than data science in the world, we recognize it as a valuable way to foster students’ natural curiosity and to build their modeling, problem solving, and communication skills.

Our hosts recognize and discuss that not everyone believes that data science is relevant content for K-12 students and educators, and offer the complicating factors that come alongside bringing new ideas such as these to the curriculum. We encourage you to explore the resources to decide for yourself!

Blog series in support of data science https://justequations.org/blog
Article expressing critique against using data science in place of calculus-centered courses Jo Boaler and youcubed data sicence big ideas for K-8 https://www.youcubed.org/data-big-ideas/
UCLA data science course https://www.introdatascience.org/
Berkeley data science course: http://data8.org/
Cal State free Course for teachers Course Kata: https://coursekata.org/
Jo Boaler and youcubed data sicence big ideas for K-8 https://www.youcubed.org/data-big-ideas/
Data talks for students in younger grades https://www.youcubed.org/resource/data-talks/
New York Times’ What’s going on with this graph? https://www.nytimes.com/column/whats-going-on-in-this-graph
Data Science 4 Everyone: https://www.datascience4everyone.org/

Did you enjoy this episode of Room to Grow? Please leave a review and share the episode with others. Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing [email protected] . Be sure to connect with your hosts on Twitter and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy.

Blog series in support of data science https://justequations.org/blog
Article expressing critique against using data science in place of calculus-centered courses Jo Boaler and youcubed data sicence big ideas for K-8 https://www.youcubed.org/data-big-ideas/
UCLA data science course https://www.introdatascience.org/
Berkeley data science course: http://data8.org/
Cal State free Course for teachers Course Kata: https://coursekata.org/
Jo Boaler and youcubed data sicence big ideas for K-8 https://www.youcubed.org/data-big-ideas/
Data talks for students in younger grades https://www.youcubed.org/resource/data-talks/
New York Times’ What’s going on with this graph? https://www.nytimes.com/column/whats-going-on-in-this-graph
Data Science 4 Everyone: https://www.datascience4everyone.org/

Previous Episode

Intervention for Middle and High School with Kevin Dykema

In this episode of Room to Grow, Curtis and Joanie welcome Kevin Dykema, new President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). As a practicing classroom teacher, Kevin brings practical knowledge to his NCTM leadership. He reflects on they ways that most school systems have historically addressed students who are struggling in math class, to give them more-of-the-same, or a slower-and-louder approach, and how these typically don’t result in resolving students’ struggles.

Kevin suggests how to decide which mathematics topics are worth intervening on, recognizing that if we worry about student mastery of every single standard or topic of the grade level or course, we overwhelm the students and ourselves. Instead, if we focus on fewer, more important topics, we can support students’ future learning. He suggests that we use timely and relevant data to determine which students need support on which topics, and anticipating and planning for supports that come just-in-time to support new learning.

Acknowledging that intervention structure looks different at the middle and high school level than for elementary school, Kevin shares his thoughts about intentionally targeting math interventions that will support students for the long term, and finding time to intervene that doesn’t take away from their regular math instruction time. He shares the problems behind teaching “tricks” or gimmicks for helping students get answers quickly, but not understand the meaning of the mathematics behind those tricks.

Ultimately, building relationships with our students and attending to building their mathematical identities and agencies is what matters most. We know that every student brings “math brilliance” to the classroom, and finding and tapping into that creates wins for all of us.

This episode is packed full of important ideas and resources – we think you are going to love it!

We encourage you to explore these resources, mentioned and referenced in this episode:

Rules that Expire blog and link to full article from NCTM journal (membership required)
Nix the Tricks by Tina Cardone, free online book and resources
Productive Math Struggle, Kevin’s book co-authored with available for purchase
The Math Pact series of books by Barbara J. Dougherty, Sarah B. Bush, and Karen S. Karp, available for purchase

Did you enjoy this episode of Room to Grow? Please leave a review and share the episode with others. Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing [email protected]. Be sure to connect with your hosts on Twitter and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy.

Next Episode

Ensuring Access to Mathematics for ALL Students

In this episode of Room to Grow, Joanie and Curtis build the conversation from NCTM's description of access, described as "ensuring that all students routinely have opportunities to experience high-quality mathematics instruction, learn challenging mathematics content, and receive the support necessary to be successful."

Our hosts tackle this challenging topic by considering some important high-leverage components, particularly those that are within a classroom teachers’ locus of control. Ensuring that all students have high-quality instruction from an excellent teacher supports the learning of challenging mathematics content. Joanie and Curtis consider that “support for success” extends beyond academic support, and spills over into the importance of classroom culture in access for all students. Teachers can, with intention, ensure that all students know they are viewed as doers of mathematics with ideas that are valuable for the learning of the entire class.

The conversation then shifts to discussing how the Standards for Mathematical Practice can help teachers not only understand what access looks like, but also helps students realize the relevance of the mathematics they are learning. Unsurprisingly, our hosts circle back to the importance of relationships with our students for their successful learning.

We encourage you to explore the resources below, referenced in this episode: