Secondary Data in the Secondary Data Science and Statistics Classroom

The complexity of modern data raises the stakes of what it means to be data literate, challenging statistics educators who wish to engage students with real data. Two authors of the revised Guidelines for Assessment in Instruction and Statistics Education Pre-K–12 report discuss the use of secondary data, illustrating these challenges with an exploration originating from a What's Going On in This Graph exercise. In particular, the authors discuss two important issues when using secondary data for Pre-K–12 students (ages 5–18): the importance of using interrogative questions to determine the provenance of data in order to assess its suitability to the task at hand as well as to consider ethical concerns, and the need to "tame" the data if the data collection scheme is advanced.