The Basics of Data Literacy: Helping Your Students (And You!) Make Sense of Data - PB343X Paperback – November 15, 2013

Great book, valuable resource for teachers.

Thanks!

I purchased this book because I wanted to understand how kids progress through an understanding of charts and graphs. I found many aspects helpful, such as the notion of moving from concrete representations (such as showing an actual distance on large graph paper with no scale factor) to more abstract, and the value of showing individual points surrounding the average on a bar graph.But I was distressed by one section that I think is flat-out wrong and encourages misconceptions. Scientists that I have checked with agree. The book states that there are three kinds of data, nominal, ordinal, and interval-ratio. Nominal data, like the weight of dogs, cats, and mice are best represented by bar charts. So far so good. The book then states that ordinal data are best represented by line graphs. The example given is the speed of poodles, Labradors, and Dobermans, with the idea being that these are in order from small to large dogs.Nobody I have checked with agrees that these should be represented by a line graph. These are really nominal data. A lot differs among these three dog breeds other than size. The slope of the line between one group and another has no meaning.Line graphs should primarily be used in time series graphs (rainfall per month, for example). The line graph helps the reader see changes between time points.The authors would do better to drop the "ordinal" category from their discussion and focus on time series, which are very important in scientific data, and on the difference between continuous and discrete data.

This book is a fantastic resource for anyone new to data or hoping to teach data thinking to others. I love the way the book is organized, how each chapter is a succinct discussion of a certain topic and also love the exercises in the back. At times the language can be a little simplistic if you're already familiar with many of these concepts, however I also love the simplicity and ease with which Bowen breaks down some complex terms and concepts so that nearly anyone can understand them. Perhaps the most important aspect of this book is the way Bowen breaks down the flaws in how science and data literacy is often lacking in traditional education. Sure most of us had a science course, remember learning about interpreting results, graphing and communicating results, but we have been lead astray as most of the examples in school were much too neat for the real world. This book offers a new perspective, a new way of looking at data that can correct some of the bad habits you may have been taught in school when you were young.

Lots of great ideas in here - I really liked the author's assessment of the importance of graphing by hand for children learning about data and what it really means. I have a digital version of this book but am considering purchasing a printed copy I like it so much.