Data Theatre as an Entry Point to Data Literacy

Data literacy is a growing area of focus across multiple disciplines in higher education. The dominant forms of introduction focus on computational toolchains and statistical ways of knowing. As data driven decision-making becomes more central to democratic processes, a larger group of learners must...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational Technology ＆ Society 2022-10, Vol.25 (4), p.93-108
Main Authors: Bhargava, Rahul, Brea, Amanda, Palacin, Victoria, Perovich, Laura, Hinson, Jesse
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Co-design
Computer Science Education
Computer Software
Cooperative Learning
Data Analysis
data literacy
Decision Making
Design
education
Higher Education
Information literacy
Information storage and retrieval
Instructional Effectiveness
Learning Activities
Literacy
Literacy programs
Mathematics Skills
Methods
Novices
participatory theatre
Puppetry
Social Justice
Special Issue Articles
Spreadsheets
Statistics Education
Teaching Guides
Teaching Methods
Theater
Theater Arts
Theaters
Theaters & cinemas
Workshops
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Summary:Data literacy is a growing area of focus across multiple disciplines in higher education. The dominant forms of introduction focus on computational toolchains and statistical ways of knowing. As data driven decision-making becomes more central to democratic processes, a larger group of learners must be engaged in order to ensure they have a seat at the table in civic settings. This requires a rethinking to support many paths into data literacy. In this paper we introduce ＂data theatre,＂ a set of activities designed for data novices that may have limited experience or comfort with spreadsheets, math, and other quantitative operations. Through iterative co-design over three workshops, we tested and produced two activity guides for educators, building on long-standing practices in participatory theatre that center social justice and liberation. Our initial findings provide very early evidence that this approach can help these learners overcome hesitations to working with information, begin building a critical perspective when viewing data, and create emotionally impactful data stories told through theatrical performance. This prototype work suggests to us that the concept of ＂Data theatre＂ warrants further study to build a more robust understanding of its affordances and limitations.
ISSN:1176-3647
1436-4522
1436-4522
DOI:10.30191/ETS.202210_25(4).0008