In this dissertation, I engage in three analytic cuts to think about/with a relational ontological orientation to data and data literacies/science education. The analysis focuses on the following question: What possibilities for teaching and learning about data are made possible when we attune to the relational, noisy, liminal, and material…

With increased focus on data literacy and data science education in K-12, little is known about what makes a data set preferable for use by classroom teachers. Given that educational designers often privilege authenticity, the purpose of this study is to examine how teachers use features of data sets to determine their suitability for authentic…

As data becomes an integral part of our lives, the general public faces the increasing need to actively engage with data to participate in daily activities, support personal goals, and understand social issues. Formal data science training, however, remains out of reach for most people and does not cater to their diverse needs related to data.…

Data preparation (also called "wrangling" or "cleaning") -- the evaluation and manipulation of data prior to formal analysis -- is often dismissed as a precursor to meaningful engagement with a dataset. Here, we re-envision data preparation in light of calls to prepare students for a data-rich world. Traditionally, curricular…

Mass adoption of advanced information technologies is fueling a need for public servants with the skills to manage data-driven public agencies. Public employees typically acquire data skills through graduate research methods courses, which focus primarily on research design and statistical analysis. What data skills are currently taught, and what…

Preparing data-literate citizens and supporting future generations to effectively work with data is challenging. Engaging students in Knowledge Building (KB) may be a promising way to respond to this challenge because it requires students to reflect on and direct their inquiry with the support of data. Informed by previous studies, this research…