My Reflection

This module made me realize that data-centered STEAM education should not only be an integration of disciplines but also empower students to become able to participate in real-world issues through data. I was particularly intrigued by the way that environmental data and citizen science both could foster civic engagement and bring awareness to community. Understanding these principles connected design thinking and data analysis, to how these ideas come together for helping students from identifying a problem to proposing ideas that solve the underlying problem. The training has changed the perspective of STEAM for me away from content-based teaching to a process-based, inquiry-driven pedagogy. But I do still think about how I’m going to best help kids to properly make sense of data, how I can help them interpret data critically and in ways that is inclusive and complex enough to reach into their understanding at an age level.