skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Integrating Technology and Narrative to Engage Young Adolescents With COVID Data
The COVID-19 pandemic has offered opportunities to immerse high needs 10–14-year-olds in real-life data that matter. We developed and tested an out-of-school program to increase youth understanding of data science through epidemiology. The 15–20-hour Data Detectives Clubs are structured around an adventure novel, The Case of the COVID Crisis, which introduces readers to epidemics across space and time. Chapters are accompanied by activities, discussion, and exploration of infection and vaccine data using CODAP, the Common Online Data Analysis Platform. To date, around 600 youth have experienced the program, focusing primarily on time-series data. Youth learned about noisy data, comparing graphs, and matching rates to cumulative numbers. These clubs demonstrate the feasibility of integrating data science with epidemiology outside of school.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2048463 2313212
PAR ID:
10385084
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
International Conference on Teaching Statistics
Date Published:
Journal Name:
11th International Conference on the Teaching of Statistics (ICOTS), Rosario, Argentina, September 11–16, 2022
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; (, International Association for Statistical Education)
    Through the “COVID-Inspired Data Science through Epidemiology Education” project, 400 underserved middle-school youth across the United States are engaging in a 20-hour out-of-school data club centered on a novel. The narrative is integrated with hands-on data activities and modeling (e.g., creating graphs of infections over time in CODAP; modeling disease transmission rates in NetLogo). Youth learn to: 1) Use data tools to track the spread of a variety of infectious diseases; 2) Ask and address their own questions of data; and 3) Use data to communicate to local audiences about epidemiological patterns and challenges. The project breaks new ground in integrating data science with epidemiology education for 11–14-year-old youth. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; (, Proceedings of the 2021 International Association for Statistical Education Satellite Conference)
    What happens when a diverse group of youth ages 11 through 14 are introduced to data science using authentic, public, multivariate data in an out-of-school context assuming no special prerequisite knowledge? We designed three 10-hour Data Club modules in which real-world data and the questions students asked of such data drove the learning process. Each module was grounded in a topic that youth connected with at a personal level. Youth learned how to use a free online data platform that made it easy to rearrange, group, filter, and graph data. Within the progression of the module, we used youths’ own questions, data moves, and data visualizations to engage them in critical inquiry and foster productive habits of mind for working with data. Our goal was for youth to emerge from the Data Clubs experience feeling empowered to interact with, ask questions of, and reason about and from data. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; (, The Journal of Early Adolescence)
    The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in dramatic changes to the experiences of school for young people around the world as youth and adults navigated changes to instructional format and means of engaging in teaching and learning. School connectedness during the pandemic served a potentially protective role for adolescents during this uncertain time. In this study, we investigate students’ ( n = 64) experiences of connectedness with their teachers and peers and examine how students’ perceptions of belonging relate to their science self-efficacy. We draw on mixed-methods with students at two middle schools using dramatically different instructional approaches. These multiple data sources provide insight into the importance of building and sustaining relationships and connectedness for students’ self-efficacy, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Connectedness to one’s science teacher was the strongest predictor of science self-efficacy, and qualitative data describe how connectedness was fostered even when typical approaches were unavailable. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Connected science learning)
    null (Ed.)
    K–12 schools across the United States have been challenged to make programmatic shifts to meet the needs of youth and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to both structure and existing connections to youth and families, many out-of-school learning (OSL) programs, including Pre-College STEM Programs (PCSPs), are nimbler and have the ability to be more responsive. The STEM PUSH Network (a National Science Foundation INCLUDES Alliance; https://stempushnetwork.org)—which brings together PCSPs as part of a national collaborative of programs and citywide STEM Ecosystems focused on program improvement and college admissions—revealed some of the ways programs have adjusted during COVID- 19, as well as the ways systematic cross-program collaboration can enhance this work. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; ; (, Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education)
    To address participation inequities among youth in computer science programs, this study examined how parents evaluate out- of-school time (OST) STEM programs for their children. We facilitated a workshop and conducted interviews with parents in Digital Youth Divas (DYD), an OST STEM program for middle-school girls who are underrepresented in computing. We found that parents prefer programs that are free, at accessible locations, and run by reputable educational institutions. Parents also identified barriers such as the lack of a parent network and conflicting schedules. These challenges must be addressed in order to encourage participation in OST computing science programs. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email