“Environmental Justice through Data Science might seem like an unlikely match, however environmental justice can be achieved if you understand how people and places are continually marginalized due to race, class, history, and power structures. One way to do that is to arm yourself with the data.” — Cassie Quigley, Associate Professor and PI for the grant
Background
This project, funded by the Grable Foundation, is part of an ongoing research-practice partnership between researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, ThroughlinesEdu, and STEAM-related educators in the Greater Pittsburgh region. Through this grant teachers were introduced to data science through the perspective of environmental justice. In a series of professional development experiences teachers were introduced to resources and concepts from which to build meaningful lessons for their classrooms. The Data for Good team from Columbia University created an app for teachers to use in their classrooms to help students learn fundamental data science concepts while researchers from University of Pittsburgh organized professional development and evaluated the outcomes of the lessons. The resources, including lesson plans and classroom management ideas, are provided for you as you work to build data science into your CS/STEM pathway or into core curriculum areas. Data science education is rapidly growing in K-12 districts.
Special Thanks
A special thank you to the teachers and administration from the participating districts: Beechwood Elementary, Pittsburgh Public Schools: Sue Simmers; Brownsville Area School District: Joni Rankin; Carmichaels School District: Megan Patton & Nichole Morecraft; Charleroi School District: Brandon Rigatti, Tadem Perok, & Linda Filby; Manchester Academic Charter School: Rebecca Wetherbee, Raelynn Ruffus, & LaShawn Digbohou; South Fayette School District: Anthony Mannarino, Tori Lojek, Lynette Lortz & Shad Wachter. In addition, many thanks to Columbia University, Data Science Institute Data for Good team: Associate Research Scientist Ipek Ensari and Graduate Student, Jordan Siff.
More Details
A more detailed project overview can be found at this link.