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Data and Analysis
Data and Analysis
Collecting data, representing it, and interpreting graphs engage students in CT, regardless of whether these activities occur during a mathematics, science, or computer science class, particularly in the early elementary grades. What is different about engaging in these activities with a lens that specifically seeks to support CS learning is the interaction with technology to perform the tasks, and to exploit (and explain) those opportunities that technology affords that are difficult to attain without it.
Types of Visual Representations of Data (in Elementary Grades)
Types of Visual Representations of Data (in Elementary Grades)
- Pictograph
- Bar chart
- Line chart
- Pie chart
- Histogram
Technology provides access to a variety of ways to represent data, and to observe larger examples of patterns that can emerge from collected and simulated data. Moreover, such analysis can provide a richer understanding of the benefits (and potential perils) of relying on the data simulated from digital models to represent and understand complex systems.
Goals for Elementary Teachers in Using Technology for Data Collection and Analysis
Goals for Elementary Teachers in Using Technology for Data Collection and Analysis
- Ability to work with larger data sets
- Can produce a variety of representations quickly
- Ensures accuracy of representation (assuming data itself is accurate!)
By looking at graphs of data, young students can express ideas that demonstrate CT while also leveraging their integrated CT learning experiences to enhance their science and/or mathematics understanding. They can recognize patterns in data, and begin to explain what the patterns in charts represent in the phenomena the data represents.
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