Data Literacy for Teachers —An Interdisciplinary Module in the Context of Climate Change

Type of event: Seminars
Institution: Faculty of Educational Science
Funding period: 01.04.2022 to 31.03.2023
Short title: DLE Climate Change

Extract from the funding application: "A future teacher needs a wide range of data literacy skills. This includes skills ranging from data collection to interpretation and application. They have a multiplier function in establishing (digital) data skills for generations of students."

The DLE-Climate Changel project

The student teachers of the research workshop go through the entire data life cycle, from the collection to the interpretation of the data based on the content field of weather, climate and climate change, using independently collected data. Data is collected using specially constructed and programmed weather stations that collect weather data at different locations. As part of the course, they acquire computer science skills, for example in programming and robotics, as well as basic skills in data management, analysis and visualization, and the interpretation and dissemination of data. In addition to promoting data literacy and computer science skills, the Master's students can also use the work with the weather stations for their later everyday school life.

Another aim of the project is to make a scientific contribution by empirically investigating the importance of data literacy for the later work of student teachers and the perceived relevance of data literacy for pupils.

Review and results

The project focused on the design of an interdisciplinary seminar course with a research focus for teacher training, which was successfully implemented, tested at the same time and then evaluated summatively and scientifically monitored. As a result of the project, the concept can now be further developed and used by (other) teachers. It can be determined that the subjects of computer science and geography have far more overlaps in the area of data literacy than could be addressed in the research seminar.

On the other hand, concrete building blocks were developed for thematic input in the course, such as the concept of data and information (based on the computer science subject concept), data in everyday life, empirical research methods, research data management in the teaching profession, as well as for concrete practical work with students, which can be used independently in subject-specific didactic teaching. This includes, in particular, a teaching project to develop a weather station with the "Calliope Mini Microcontroller" with supplementary handouts for teachers on the objectives of the teaching experiment and the desired data skills. A module on the topic of "Handling data" has already been published in the teaching journal MNUjounal. Furthermore, the concept and modules are being incorporated into a new transfer project with the Hamburg Student Research Center, where they are being further developed in teaching practice.

Tips from teachers for teachers

As students from all subjects can take part in the research workshop, it was particularly interesting and challenging to teach from other subjects. In such interdisciplinary courses, teachers should therefore concentrate particularly on didactically reducing content and supporting students in order to pick up on their level of knowledge. It is also a challenge to arouse interest in an interdisciplinary topic in which students may only be interested in partial aspects. In this respect, teaching projects should be reviewed and possibly adapted to give students more freedom according to their skills. The survey of students' data literacy skills is also interesting for other subjects so that teachers can assess their students' skills and build on them accordingly.