This case study explores the use of large language models (LLMs) as analytical partners for data exploration and interpretation. Grounded in original research, it navigates the intricacies of using LLMs for uncovering themes from datasets. The study tackles various methodological and practical challenges encountered during the research process…

Undergraduate economics programs prepare students for future careers by developing competency working with data, or "data literacy." Our research examined the data literacy components of undergraduate economics programs at R1 and R2 universities in the United States (N = 190). We developed a protocol with core data skills and coded…

This work reports on the implementation of a self-contained data-literacy exercise designed for use in undergraduate classes to help students practice data literacy skills such as interpreting and evaluating evidence and assessing arguments based on data. The exercises use already developed data-visualizations to test and develop students' ability…

Purpose: Specific forms of data use in schools, particularly those that involve students in interpreting and utilizing the data about themselves, are gaining recognition. This exploratory qualitative study focused on students' involvement in the use of data coming from a national survey. Design/methodology/approach: In three best-practice schools,…

From a new institutional theoretical perspective, this article explores school actors' sense-making linked to data-based decision making (DBDM) policy in general and processes of data analysis in particular. The study revealed how actors' interpretation of and response to DBDM pointed to strong and weak couplings between and within the local…

Monitoring applications (MAs) use digital and online tools to collect and track data on student behavior, and they have become increasingly popular among schools. Empirical research on these complex surveillance platforms is scant, and little is known about the efficacy or impact that they have on students. This study used a multi-method…

Predicting student performance using educational data is a significant area of machine learning research. However, class imbalance in datasets and the challenge of developing interpretable models can hinder accuracy. This study compares different variations of the Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) combined with classification…

Across the United States, there is an increased interest in improving school climate, reflecting a deepening understanding of the foundational role that school climate can play in supporting students' well-being, learning, and development. School climate is constructed from norms, expectations, and interpersonal relationships that come together to…

Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) has been a critical component of School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) for decades. Formally called the 'home project', Rufus Stimson developed the concept of SAE in the early 20th century. This work-based learning concept provides students with experiential instruction that strengthens their…

Background: New technology and increased collaboration have revolutionized how scientists work with data. This creates a need to identify new aspects of working with scientific data that are important for K-12 students to learn. Purpose: To address this need, we conducted a study with practicing scientists and K-12 science teachers. The purpose of…

Teachers' data literacy and interpretive process are critical to understanding how they make sense of data. However, little is known about how mental representations shape and evolve in response to teachers' interpretive process. In the present study, I model and explore this recursive relationship between teachers' cognitive framing and…

Age is one of the important factors affecting individual differences in second language acquisition. The development of cognitive ability also has certain influence on second language acquisition, depending on whether this influence is positive or negative. This paper discusses the educational significance of the age factor in English teaching…

Tables are fundamental tools for handling data and play a crucial role in developing both computational thinking (CT) and mathematical thinking (MT). Despite this, they receive limited attention in research and design. This study investigates pupils' attitudes toward and approaches to working with tables in informatics education, focusing on the…

We undertook a research project consisting of four interrelated studies, in order to shed light on ways educational professionals make sense and make use of educational data in general and school performance feedback in particular. Theoretical insights illuminate why a sensemaking perspective is an appropriate and valuable lens to study data use.…

Despite the rising popularity of big data, there is speculation that evaluators have been slow adopters of these new statistical approaches. Several possible reasons have been offered for why this is the case: ethical concerns, institutional capacity, and evaluator capacity and values. In this method note, we address one of these barriers and aim…