Project Overview
In the Think Critically with Data project, students develop the fundamental skills needed to use technology in support of critical thinking, data analysis, and communication. Students also learn how to monitor and be accountable for their own thinking and analysis. In this project, you provide opportunities to build critical thinking skills by having students collect and analyze data. As students become more proficient, they begin to understand how an expert can generate new knowledge by asking original questions, collecting data through observation or measurement, analyzing and representing data, and sharing results with peers and other audiences.

Project Questions

• How can critical thinking skills help students learn about complex topics?
• Why should students know how to collect their own data?
• How does critical thinking help students analyze and represent data?
• How can students tell engaging and meaningful stories about data?

Critical Thinking >
How can you improve students’ critical thinking skills? In this module, you help students understand that they can become critical thinkers if they learn some basic skills. Make sure students know why critical thinking requires the ability to look at a topic from multiple points of view, evaluate information carefully, and draw logical conclusions. With your facilitation, students apply critical thinking skills to interpret polling data. Then, students choose and research complex topics on which to create their own polls. 

Data Collection >
What can students do when they need more information to understand a topic? In this module, students learn how to collect data to supplement information from credible sources. You guide students as they summarize the information they gathered in annotated bibliographies. You also help students apply their critical thinking skills as they write poll questions and collect data from other students. After students collect their data, they use a spreadsheet application to create workbooks and enter their data into worksheets. 

Data Analysis >
Can your students use critical thinking skills to analyze and represent data? In this module, you facilitate an exploration of spreadsheet applications as an effective technology tool for analyzing and representing data. Students should know how to use formulas and functions to analyze their poll data. You help students understand why representing data visually is a good way to draw conclusions from data analysis, and then students visually represent their poll data with appropriate charts and graphs. Students also format their worksheets and visual representations before sharing their data with peers. 

Newsletter Publication >
Can your students communicate what they learn from their research and analysis? In this module, students apply their critical thinking skills to organize the information they gathered. You help students understand how they can use the narrative style of writing to tell stories about their topics. You also encourage students to explore the writing process and look for ways to make their stories engaging and meaningful. Students use desktop publishing tools and graphic design elements to produce visually appealing newsletters that share their research, data, and conclusions with an audience.