A SySTEMic approach to Data Literacy

Abstract

We outline an emerging research agenda that brings together three distinct topics relevant to the changing requirements of school education: STEM education, inquiry learning, and data literacy. When examining current curriculum materials in Australia we find that data in the digital environment is primarily seen as something to be examined in terms of its representations, interpretations, and visualisation – all activities that can be understood as downstream from data production. We argue that in the same way that inquiry learning involves a shift from the teacher to the student as the pivotal questioner, that a comprehensive and systemic approach to understanding data in the digital environment must involve appreciation for its production as well as consumption. Teaching STEM as an integrated and interdisciplinary way to decomposing real-world problems, not just the STEM subjects, requires a systemic approach running through and across the curriculum. It also now demands data literacy.