Researchers aim to teach math students critical thinking with data science
In a new research project at the IT University of Copenhagen and the University of Copenhagen, a group of researchers will investigate how data science can become part of high school mathematics education to provide students with a better foundation for critical thinking and the ability to illuminate and nuance claims they encounter in their daily lives.
Louise Meier CarlsenResearchEducationchildren and youthdata science
Written 31 March, 2025 07:37
Technology plays a significant role in our society, and therefore it is important that young people in education learn to use it within various subject areas while also being critical of its use. This means that they must also understand the algorithms behind the technology. Both in mathematics education and interdisciplinary studies, there is great potential for using data science to develop teaching methods.
"There is great potential in incorporating data science specifically into mathematics education because it supports many of the topics that are already part of the high school mathematics curriculum. By looking at large datasets, one can understand, for example, basic statistical models including linear regression," says Assistant Professor at ITU, Louise Meier Carlsen. "It is also possible to look at facial recognition or other identification through digital image analysis, such as broken bones, skin cancer, or whether you can eat a particular mushroom or not. These are topics that are academically relevant to high school mathematics education and at the same time relevant to society."
Technology and its use is already an integrated part of everyday life for many young people. Most have a smartphone in their pocket without really knowing how it works on the inside. Nevertheless, they use it for everything from communicating with friends to asking an AI for help with writing a Danish essay.
"We see that generative AI is becoming more and more prevalent both in society and for young people, but many do not actually know the technology behind it. We hope that we can teach young people to both understand it and be critical of it," says Louise Meier Carlsen. "It is an important part of technological understanding to make black-box technologies understandable for young people."
In a new research project together with Associate Professor Britta Jessen from the University of Copenhagen, Louise Meier Carlsen will "unbox" the technology and make it interact with other subjects in high school so that young people can use data science to understand the world they live in. The project is titled DASME (Data Science in Mathematics Education).
Data science can answer big questions
With a focus on the use of large amounts of data, the advent of generative AI, and a tense global situation, it is now more important than ever to be able to critically assess the claims one sees and hears. Data science can also be used here.
"For example, when I was in high school almost 20 years ago, there was a belief and narrative that boys were better at mathematics than girls. There are now huge datasets available, so it is entirely within reach for high school students to explore and critically assess such claims. They can be asked to set up a study to investigate whether boys are better at mathematics than girls. They quickly find out that it does not make sense to ask that question and that it is instead other factors than gender that play a role in how one performs in mathematics in the Danish education system. It is actually a question that is extremely difficult to answer," says Louise Meier Carlsen. "Understanding technology and data science can thus help us nuance the things that happen in the world around us."
High school teachers must be involved
To succeed with the project, the researchers behind DASME must visit the high schools. Some of the most important collaborators are the high school teachers who know both what the students need to learn and how best to work with it.
"We know from research and many other experiments that they often have no long-term effect, so it is important for us to involve the high school teachers not just as recipients but as participants in the project. It is important that we in the DASME project create teaching materials that fit within the curriculum - data science should not be an extra burden for high school teachers. Therefore, it is essential that we get the high school teachers involved in the project. We need to develop the teaching materials together, as the teachers are the best at teaching high school students," says Louise Meier Carlsen.
"In Denmark, we have engaged and highly educated high school teachers, and the use of technology, especially in mathematics education and STEM subjects, is far advanced. Additionally, we are good at interdisciplinary studies. This provides fantastic frameworks for the project, which the rest of the world will also look to."
Theis Duelund Jensen, Press Officer, phone +45 2555 0447, email thej@itu.dk