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How could we teach data science in primary school?
Author(s) -
Fry Kym,
Makar Katie
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
teaching statistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.425
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1467-9639
pISSN - 0141-982X
DOI - 10.1111/test.12259
Subject(s) - curriculum , vignette , mathematics education , class (philosophy) , information and communications technology , curriculum mapping , computer science , pedagogy , psychology , curriculum development , world wide web , artificial intelligence , social psychology
In this paper, we propose that informal aspects of data science could be introduced in primary school. The International Data Science in Schools Project (IDSSP) framework for data science curriculum provides a guide for a data science curriculum aimed at upper secondary level. We analyzed synergies between the IDSSP framework and the current content of the Australian Curriculum at the primary school level (ages 5‐11) for Mathematics, Digital Technologies, and two General Capabilities (ICT, Critical and Creative Thinking). Our findings suggest that the primary curriculum already exists to support informal, age‐appropriate data science content for young children. A vignette of a Year 4 (age 9) class is used to illustrate what such a curriculum could look like in practice.