"Let’s talk about data": Co-Designing Critical Data Literacy Tools for K-12 Education through Dialogic Learning

Paper Title

'Let’s talk about data': Co-Designing Critical Data Literacy Tools for K-12 Education through Dialogic Learning

Publication Info

• Topic area: Designing educational technologies to foster critical data literacy in K-12 education.
• Keywords: Critical data literacy, dialogic learning, K-12 education, co-design, research-through-design, formative assessment, constructionism, computational empowerment, data storytelling, learning technologies.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Existing K-12 data literacy tools often fail to scaffold critical thinking, support constructionist approaches, or enable students to take ownership of their learning. Many tools focus on technical skills without addressing critical reflection on data subjectivity, embedded values, and societal impacts.
• Significance: As data increasingly shapes everyday decisions and civic life, critical data literacy (CDL) is essential for empowering youth to interrogate the social, ethical, and political dimensions of data systems. Addressing this gap is crucial for fostering reflective and responsible citizens in data-driven societies.
• Motivation and related work: Prior research highlights the importance of constructionist approaches, student agency, and teacher-supported implementation in CDL tools. However, these tools often overlook mechanisms for eliciting critical reflection, iterative exploration, and dynamic dialogue. Dialogic learning, which emphasizes co-construction of knowledge through discourse, offers a promising pedagogical lens to address these gaps.

Solution

• Proposed approach: The study introduces Datafy, a web-based prototype designed to teach CDL through dialogic learning principles. Students produce, analyze, and reflect on personally meaningful music data, fostering critical engagement and collaborative exploration.
• Novelty:
  1. Development of a theoretical framework for operationalizing dialogic learning in CDL tool design.
  2. Empirical case study demonstrating how dialogic learning principles can be translated into tool features and classroom practices.
  3. Design recommendations for embedding dialogic learning into CDL tools, emphasizing co-design with teachers and diverse opportunities for dialogue.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Co-design process with interdisciplinary teams, including teachers and researchers.
  • Iterative development of the Datafy prototype and learning activities aligned with dialogic learning principles.
  • Classroom observation and thematic analysis to evaluate the prototype’s impact on CDL learning goals.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • 57% of students enjoyed producing music-related data, citing personal relevance and engagement.
  • 64% of students critically evaluated discrepancies between computational outputs and their expectations, fostering reflection on data reliability.
  • Students demonstrated narrative-building skills by filtering data to create playlists for real-life themes, supported by peer dialogue.
  • Teachers observed strong student engagement and critical reflection but noted challenges in sustaining deeper interrogation of data authority.
• Advantage over baselines:
  • Unlike static CDL tools, Datafy integrates dialogic learning to provoke critical reflection, scaffold student agency, and make learning evidence observable for teachers.
  • The prototype bridges technical data practices with critical perspectives, addressing gaps in existing CDL tools.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Classroom observation involving 40 sixth-grade students and two teachers.
  • Structured observation protocols, video recordings, embedded surveys, and teacher interviews.
  • Thematic analysis with deductive and inductive coding to evaluate dialogic interactions and learning outcomes.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Limited to specific regional contexts and short-term observations; lacks longitudinal measures of learning efficacy.
  • Future research should explore scalable integration of dialogic learning principles into diverse educational contexts and infrastructures.
  • Investigate collaborative evaluation methodologies and the evolving roles of teachers in co-design processes.

Summary

This study introduces Datafy, a prototype designed to teach critical data literacy (CDL) in K-12 education through dialogic learning principles. By engaging students in producing and analyzing personally meaningful music data, the tool fosters peer dialogue, critical reflection, and collaborative meaning-making. Classroom observations with 40 sixth-grade students demonstrate how dialogic learning supports student agency and scaffolds teacher facilitation. The findings contribute to HCI and CDL research by operationalizing dialogic learning into tool design and providing actionable design recommendations. While limitations include the lack of longitudinal measures, the study highlights the potential for dialogic learning to enhance CDL tools and broader educational technologies.