We live in a world exploding with data. With today's technology infrastructure, everyone has the ability to produce information. Every email, blog post, news story and intellectual article adds to the billions of gigabytes of information available on the Internet. We have the ability to collect big sets of numbers, quickly perform complex analytics and create elaborate data visualizations, such as infographics. This explosion of data has led to the need for a citizenry that has the analytic skills once required only by professionals. We are bombarded daily with arguments supported by data and, often, the same data is used to support opposing viewpoints. Our understanding of right and wrong, good and bad, and perhaps the very survival of modern democracy, relies on an understanding of data literacy.
Our students need basic skills in understanding data sets, collecting data, manipulating and analyzing numbers, and creating effective visual representations of data. Further, they must be able to evaluate the use of data in argumentation, as well as create their own claims backed by evidence and explained with logical reasoning (Fontichiaro & Oehrli, 2016). The importance of these skills is represented in national learning standards such as the Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010), National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (National Council for the Social Studies, 2010) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013). While purporting and supporting claims have been identified as important skills, it is recognized that students typically struggle with argumentation (McNeill & Krajcik, 2008).
Combining inquiry approaches with argumentative writing has shown to be an effective approach in science instruction, improving both student science content knowledge and argumentative writing skills. To be an effective practice, the inquiry must offer students authentic tasks embedded in inquiry so they engage in “serious writing practices of science” that include “transforming data into evidence, arguing from evidence, coordinating theory and evidence, and refining a text in light of a critique” (Sampson, Enderle, Grooms & Witte, 2013).
In helping students succeed with argumentative writing, it is important to make the argument framework explicit. One framework successfully used across subject areas is the claim, evidence and reasoning format. The claim is the assertion or conclusion drawn that addresses the question or problem proposed. Evidence is the data used to support the claim. Evidence must be both appropriate (relevant to the claim) and sufficient (providing enough evidence to be convincing). Reasoning ties the claim to the evidence and explains why this evidence is used to support the claim (McNeill & Krajcik, 2008). Supporting claims with evidence and reasoning has been shown to promote higher-level thinking skills (Newmann, 1990). Providing scaffolding for students to help them create appropriate claims, evidence and reasoning in supporting arguments is an important approach in problem-based learning (Belland, Glazewski & Richardson, 2011).
References
Belland, B. R., Glazewski, K. D., & Richardson, J. C. (2011). Problem-based Learning and Argumentation: Testing a Scaffolding Framework to Support Middle School Students’ Creation of Evidence-based Arguments. Instructional Science, 39(5), 667-694.
Fontichiaro, K., & Oehrli, J. A. (2016). Why Data Literacy Matters. Knowledge Quest, 44(5), 20.
McNeill, K. L., & Krajcik, J. (2008). Inquiry and Scientific Explanations: Helping Students Use Evidence and Reasoning. Science as Inquiry in the Secondary Setting, 121-134.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards.
Newmann, F. M. (1990). Higher Order Thinking in Teaching Social Studies: A Rationale for the Assessment of Classroom Thoughtfulness. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 22(1), 41-56.
NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press.
Sampson, V., Enderle, P., Grooms, J., & Witte, S. (2013). Writing to Learn by Learning to Write During the School Science Laboratory: Helping Middle and High School Students Develop Argumentative Writing Skills as They Learn Core Ideas. Science Education (97): 643–670.