Math Meets Social Studies in New National Science Foundation-Funded SRI International Initiative to Boost Student Literacy

"Thinking with Data" Project to Help Students Improve Math Skills by Studying Real-World Issues

MENLO PARK, California – March 1, 2004 – Understanding important social issues like the federal budget, the spread of disease, and the risks associated with personal choices often involve understanding numerical data and statistics that rely on mathematical assumptions. This can be daunting for most adults, and incomprehensible to most K-12 students. It's no wonder that most Americans view social problems as matters of irreconcilable opinions, and math problems as isolated exercises with little use outside the classroom. Consequently, many people are ill-prepared to make informed decisions, and almost two-thirds of high school students do not take advanced math courses. One result may be a workforce unprepared for the technological jobs of the future.

To help address this growing concern, the "Thinking with Data" initiative has been launched by researchers at SRI International, an independent research institute, in collaboration with Kent State University and Green Middle School in Uniontown, Ohio. The effort is supported by a financial award of $325,000 over 18 months from the National Science Foundation.

The project aims to help students make sense of societal issues that rely on quantitative data to help them learn mathematics of data analysis and improve their data literacy. The approach combines the cultures of social studies and mathematics to create an understanding of the math used in investigating real-world problems.

SRI's Center for Technology in Learning and Kent State University's Research Center for Educational Technology will form an interdisciplinary team to develop a fundamentally new method of teaching data analysis skills to middle school math and social studies students. The team includes teachers and experts in math, science, and social studies, as well as software developers, producers, and researchers. The team will work together to create powerful Web-based learning tools for schools and informal settings.

The approach is to make statistics come alive by emphasizing cutting-edge, learner-centered data visualization tools; relevance through customization of datasets; dynamic interaction with data; and collaboration as teachers and learners investigate compelling social science topics. The environment will leverage existing software tools and incorporate new ones developed by the Thinking with Data team.

The team includes Green Middle School, where teachers and administrators recognize the importance of increasing students' data literacy. Teachers at Green Middle School have a history of collaborating with researchers at SRI and Kent State, and see the Thinking with Data project as having potential to lead to a significant increase in student learning.

The project could have broad impacts, including:

•  More literate use of data by teachers and students, by helping them use data meaningfully in a wide range of topics while retaining the unique character of each topic

•  Development of research-based educational materials that can increase the range of students both interested in and capable of analyzing data as a basis for thinking about societal issues

•  Creation of a set of tasks designed to assess students' ability to reason with data in the context of rich societal issues

•  Increased capacity of researchers and research-oriented education practitioners to transfer research into practice

SRI's Center for Technology in Learning (www.ctl.sri.com) has experience orchestrating large multi-institutional research on technology-based curriculum and assessments. The Center 's mission is to improve learning and teaching through innovation and inquiry in computing and communications. Its research and development priorities are to advance theory and research on effective learning and teaching, and to embody these insights in the innovative design, use, and assessment of interactive learning environments. Much of the Center's work is conducted in real educational settings, such as classrooms and teacher education programs.

Kent State's Research Center for Educational Technology (www.kent.edu/rcet) has experience working with teachers on innovative curriculum supported by technology, and evaluating the effectiveness of innovative educational programs.

About SRI International

Silicon Valley-based SRI International (www.sri.com) is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for more than 55 years. The nonprofit research institute performs contract research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses and private foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.

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