Course Guide - USAID Teacher Education Project

Unit 4 Information HandlingWeek 1, Session 1: The Data Process, Categorical vs. Numerical Data1. What are the important concepts?a) Data can be represented in a variety of ways.b) When collecting data, there needs to be an agreed-upon protocol.c) Organizing raw data is a crucial step in determining how it will be represented.d) Creating displays of data is a means to an end. The display is simply a visualconvenience so that the data can be more easily interpreted.2. How do children think about these concepts?a) Even very young children can collect data on a routine basis. This can besomething as simple as posting a weather icon and the morning temperature on acalendar.b) As children get older and begin to work more formally with data, they need to"read" data from existing charts and graphs. This sets the stage for theirunderstanding that the fundamental role of a data display is to help them interpretinformation and then make decisions on the basis of the data.c) Textbooks usually spend a disproportionate amount of time having youngsterscreate graphs, and not enough time helping them interpret data displays. To rectifythis, teachers need to be alert to graphs and charts in the media that can be broughtinto class for youngster's discussion and analysis.3. What is essential to know or do in class?a) Introduce the data process, emphasizing that this is really a research process.b) Have students work though the process in order to create a bar graph showing theirfavourite subjects in high school.c) Introduce the concept of categorical vs. numerical data.d) Have students consider the implications of the data they collected.4. Class Activitiesa) In order to prepare for the rest of the activities in this unit, students will engage inan activity that will allow them to move through all seven steps of the data processduring this first class session:1. Posing a question2. Determining the data needed to answer the question3. Creating a data collection plan