Patriotic Education: Using Data Investigations to Explore our Democracy

Travis Weiland—tweilan1@charlotte.edu

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Warm Up

1. What do you notice?
2. What do you wonder?

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1. What might this data visualization be representing?
2. What story might this visualization help tell?

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1. What is a catchy headline you could make for this data visualization?
2. What is a claim you could make from this data?

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1. What story is the author telling with this data visualization?
2. What do you still wonder?

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Slow Reveal Graph

• Exposes students gradually to the different components of data visualization
• Students are asked to consider what the visualization is showing them before being given more features of the graph
• Each slide deck begins with a naked visualization with a notice/wonder prompt
• Each subsequent slide adds different components of the visualization along with increasingly complex questions to invite discourse amongst students.
• https://slowrevealgraphs.com/

NYT What’s Going on in this Graph

• Joint venture between the New York Times and the American Statistical Association
• Designed to help support classroom teachers in having conversations about data visualizations in the media about current issues
• Each posting includes a notice/wonder prompt to get students making sense of the graph and thinking about and beyond the data
• Students can also comment on NYT webpage and share that with their instructor and can also join a weekly chat with an ASA statistician about the graphic
• https://www.nytimes.com/column/whats-going-on-in-this-graph

Reading Data Visualizations

• Great launch or warm up activity
• Great way to make math relevant
• Well thought out questions matter
• Questions help focus students on reading data visualizations in different ways

What is Patriotic Education?

• What is Patriotic Education?
• It depends who you talk to
• Why are we talking about this?
• People in places of power are
• How does this connect to mathematics?
• Census
• Apportionment
• Gerrymandering
• Fair division
• And many more

Gemini

Prompt: Provide several different definitions of patriotic education and compare and contrast them.

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Patriotic education, at its core, is a deliberate, systematic process to foster dedication, love, and loyalty to one's country. However, the specific definition and implementation vary significantly across different contexts, leading to several distinct models. Here are three primary definitions or models of patriotic education, along with a comparison and contrast.

1. The Civic/Reflective Model (Constructive Patriotism)
2. The Affirmative/Exceptionalist Model (Blind Patriotism)
3. The State/Authoritarian Model (Nationalist Indoctrination)

Grok

Prompt: Provide several different definitions of patriotic education and compare and contrast them.

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Below are five distinct definitions of patriotic education drawn from different sources, contexts, and perspectives. Each is quoted or paraphrased, followed by a comparison and contrast table.

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1. Official Chinese State Definition

2. U.S. Conservative Education Perspective

3. Critical Academic Definition

4. Russian Official Definition

5. Liberal Democratic / Civic Education Counterpoint

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“(d)  “Patriotic education” means a presentation of the history of America grounded in: �(i)    an accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling characterization of America’s founding and foundational principles; �(ii)   a clear examination of how the United States has admirably grown closer to its noble principles throughout its history; �(iii)  the concept that commitment to America’s aspirations is beneficial and justified; and�(iv)   the concept that celebration of America’s greatness and history is proper.”

“In the American system, educated citizens who know their rights and embrace their responsibilities cooperate to build a more perfect Union,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “It is imperative to promote an education system that teaches future generations honestly about America’s Founding principles, political institutions, and rich history. To truly understand American values, the tireless work it has taken to live up to them, and this country’s exceptional place in world history is the best way to inspire an informed patriotism and love of country."��Patriotic education presents American history in a way that is accurate, honest, and inspiring. It emphasizes a unifying and uplifting portrayal of the nation's founding ideals, highlights the progress the United States has made in living up to those principles, especially the battles fought by civil rights heroes to extend the protections of the U.S. Constitution to all citizens, and affirms that dedication to America's core values is both meaningful and justified.

“Students deserve an honest and full account of US history. This funding priority promises to support the teaching of “accurate and honest” content. We consider this goal profoundly important, and that is why we are concerned about efforts to scrub historical content from federal websites, remove factual signage at historic sites, and attack curatorial decisions at Smithsonian museums, alleging that this history is insufficiently celebratory in its depiction of the United States. A 2024 NCSS and Encourage survey of more than 50,000 students and almost 1,000 educators showed that social studies teachers and their students identified the ability to visit museums and historic sites as a top priority for both groups.”

“The teaching of US history should invite discussion, encourage inquiry, and reflect the diverse people, places, and events that shape our shared human experience. A strong social studies education helps students develop the ability to analyze information, engage in meaningful discourse, and contribute thoughtfully to their communities.”

Source: NCSS and AHA

U.S. Government

The United States is a representative democracy. This means that our government is elected by citizens. Here, citizens vote for their government officials. These officials represent the citizens’ ideas and concerns in government. Voting is one way to participate in our democracy. Citizens can also contact their officials when they want to support or change a law. Voting in an election and contacting our elected officials are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy.

(Source: USCIS)

Founding Beliefs

“The American republic was founded on a set of beliefs that were tested during the Revolutionary War. Among them was the idea that all people are created equal, whether European, Native American, or African American, and that these people have fundamental rights, such as liberty, free speech, freedom of religion, due process of law, and freedom of assembly. America’s revolutionaries openly discussed these concepts. Many Americans agreed with them but some found that the ideology was far more acceptable in the abstract than in practice.”

(Source: Library of Congress, Creating the United States)

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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

(Source: Transcript of Declaration of Independence)

Generative Themes

• Representative/Biased
• People are represented in government, we are a representational democracy, etc.
• A sample can be representative of a population, the mean can be representative of the center of a distribution, etc.
• Equality/Difference
• All people are created equal, equal protections, etc.
• Is there a significant difference between the groups? The null hypothesis is that they are equal, etc.

Historical Context: Census

Article 1 Section 2 of U.S. Constitution: “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.”

Historical Context: Census

14th Amendment Section 2 of U.S. Constitution: “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.” Note: Since American Indians are now taxed, they are counted for purposes of apportionment

Historical Context: Census

• So who counts?
• Here is a timeline of the history of how the census counted people 
• What Census Calls Us

Operationalizing Constructs: What is Race?

“The racial categories included in the census questionnaire generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country and not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropologically, or genetically. In addition, it is recognized that the categories of the race item include racial and national origin or sociocultural groups. People may choose to report more than one race to indicate their racial mixture. People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any race.”

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2020CENSUS.GOV

Operationalizing Constructs: What is Ethnicity?

“Ethnicity is defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as either “Hispanic or Latino” or “Not Hispanic or Latino.” OMB defines "Hispanic or Latino" as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. People who identify as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be any race.”

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2020CENSUS.GOV

US Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Standards for Race and Ethnicity (1997)

OMB Ethnicity Categories:

• Hispanic or Latino
• Not Hispanic or Latino

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OMB Race Categories:

American Indian or Alaska Native - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.

Asian - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Black or African American - A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

Hispanic or Latino - A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

White - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

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The Census Bureau is also permitted to use the category “Some Other Race”

Source: www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1997-10-30/pdf/97-28653.pdf

The importance of race and ethnicity data to communities

Ensure Equal Opportunity

Race and ethnicity data help governments and communities enforce anti-discrimination laws, regulations, and policies

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Understand Change

Race and ethnicity data help researchers, advocacy groups, and policymakers examine similarities and differences across various communities

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Administer Programs for Specific Groups

Race and ethnicity data help communities ensure that programs are operating as intended by knowing how many people are eligible to participate in certain programs

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2020CENSUS.GOV

Why the Census?

• Important topic for democracy in the U.S.
• In the constitution so justifiably Patriotic Education
• Source of relevant data that people can see themselves in
• Source of data for investigating sociopolitical issues
• It relates to tons of interesting mathematics
• Discrete mathematics and fair division for Apportionment
• Geometry and Data in Gerrymandering
• Data on income inequality
• Geometry and data for access to resources
• Geometry and data for urban and rural planning
• Data is publicly available

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Frame the Problem

Is the U.S. congress representative of the population they are elected to represent?

Representative Government

Frame the Problem: Create a Statistical Question

Is the proportion of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives that identify as white only, significantly different than the proportion of the U.S. population that identifies as white only?

Process and Explore Data

• 301 representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives who identify as white
• 204,277,273 people in the U.S. identify as white on the 2020 census
• What measures do we want to consider? Perhaps proportions
• 301/434 or 69.4% of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives who identify as white
• 204,277,273/331,449,281 or 61.6% of people in the U.S. identify as white on the 2020 census
• 69.4% and 61.6% are not equivalent. Are they significantly different?

Model Data

• Congress is a sample of the U.S. population
• How could we model collecting samples from the U.S. population to see what is likely to happen by chance?
• Link to CODAP workspace to model

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Model

Communicate/Propose Action

• What did we learn?
• What actions might we take to learn more?
• What data do we wish we had?
• What future investigations would we like to do?

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Representative Government

Source: Population Pyramid

Apportionment

• Used to be in the NC Discrete Mathematics Curriculum
• Jefferson Method
• Webster Method
• Hamilton Method
• Method of Equal Proportions
• Historical Perspective of Apportionment
• Computing Apportionment
• Historical Apportionment Data Map
• Apportionment and Redistricting Process for the U.S. House of Representatives

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Gerrymandering

• Applet to explore the concept of Gerrymandering
• Skew the Script lesson on gerrymandering
• Simulation for 2020 congressional districts
• For local perspective consider redistricting in NC

Reflect

• How does this relate to your curriculum?
• How does this relate to the curriculum coming?

Exploring Data

• We are going to use the Census Microdata Plug-in in CODAP
• This could be a really useful tool to use with your students
• This is an opportunity to play with CODAP if you have not done so yet
• For those of you familiar with CODAP there are some new features like the Testimate plugin
• While you are exploring think of this: "What is a question that would be interesting to investigate with this data?"

Getting Started in CODAP

• Go to https://codap.concord.org/ 
• Click the Plugins Icon in the menu in the top left-hand corner and then select Getting Data and then select Microdata Portal. 

Selecting Data

• With this plugins you can choose what locations you want to draw samples from in terms of location (i.e. States in the U.S.) and time point (i.e. year) as well as the attributes to include, and the size of the sample  

Selecting Attributes

There are many attributes to choose from nested in 6 main groups including:

• Basic Demographics
• Race, Ancestry, Origins
• Work & Employment
• Income
• Geography
• Other

You can view the attributes in each group by clicking on the down arrow next to each group

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Meta-Data

• There is data about the data available if you click on the i icon in the top right-hand corner of the plugin 
• Resources include the original questionnaire, a codebook, and a reference for using the plugin in CODAP

Structure of Data

• The data comes in a hierarchical form with individuals nested into states

Visualize

• CODAP creates a number of different data visualizations based on what type of variables you are visualizing and how many variables you are trying to visualize at the same time. 
• To create data visualization, you drag and drop attributes (variable) to different locations on a graph including the x-axis, y-axis, center of the graph (after at least one axis has an attribute), the top heading (after at least one axis has an attribute), or the right heading (after at least one axis has an attribute) 

Consider Data

Process Data

As a Group

On Your Own

Let’s take a look at the data. You have considered the data broadly now let’s consider the data more specifically for your investigative question

• What are the cases/observational units?
• What variables are present in this data set?
• How do you think they were measured?
• What questions do you have about the data?
• What questions would you like to investigate with the data?
• What is the structure of your data?
• Do you need to create, modify, or filter any of the attributes/variables?

If you answered yes to the last question in the previous section now you need to consider what data moves you may need to make to the data.

• Filtering—removing some cases based on the value of an attribute
• Grouping—combing cases or clustering them into distinct groups
• Calculating and recording—creating a new variable based on a calculation applied to existing attributes or by combining outcomes in an attribute to create new outcomes
• Joining— Joining together multiple datasets that measure the same cases but contain different attributes

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Do we need to process your data? If not continue on, if yes take time to do so and record what processing you did to the data such that you could follow your directions in the future

Consider and respond to each of the questions above.

QUESTIONS to Frame a Problem:

What makes a good investigation question?

The variable(s) of interest is/are clear and available

• Report what variables are present in the question
• Are those variables in the dataset? 

The population of interest is clear

• What is the population in the question?

The intent is clear

• Is it clear what the intent of the question is? What is the question getting at? 

Variability is present/expected in the data

• Is there more than one possible outcome for the variables being investigated?

The question can be answered with the data

• Is it possible to answer the question as it is intended with the data we have available to us? 

The question is one that is worth investigating, that is interesting, and has a purpose

• Why is this question worth investigating? So what? 

The question allows for analysis to be made of a whole group 

• Is the question focused on overall trends and patterns?
• Does the question just ask for a descriptive statistic? If yes it is not a statistical question. 

(modified from: Arnold & Pfannkuch, 2019)

Where to Start

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Start with what is your learning objectives.

A good learning objective is clear, concise, and measurable, focusing on what the learner will be able to do by the end of the learning experience.

Using action verbs and establishing criteria for success are key components of well-written learning objectives

Learning objectives should come from your standards but are generally more specific.

Example learning objectives

Students are able to write at least one investigative question related to the issue of school funding, given a dataset.

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Students will be able to group and filter data to process data for analysis to answer an investigative question.

Write Learning Objectives

1. What standard(s) do you want to focus on?

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• What are reasonable learning objectives for that standard?

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• How many class periods do you want to plan out?

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Consider the Process

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What components of the investigative process make sense to highlight?

What components of the investigative process will you provide?

Will you provide data or have student collect data?

Will you provide and investigative question or have students come up with them?

Argumentation

Process

Consider the Issue

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What issue do you think would be relevant for your students to investigate?

What data might be available to investigate that issue? Or how could you collect data to investigate the issue?

What media resources might be useful to orient students to the issue?

Putting the Pieces Together

To help guide your process of constructing an investigation for your students consider our flowchart with linked investigation briefs.

Let’s take some time to explore this resource linked here.

You may also want to consider how the standards questions and type of data connect

Here is another tool to help

Explore & Visualize Data

Explore & Visualize Data

Consider Models

Consider Models

Examples of Curriculum

• Investigating U.S. Society with Data
• Skew the Script
• Statistical Investigations of Systemic Racism
• Institute for Mathematics and Democracy
• Investigating Democratic Representation Investigation on InSTEP
• Part 1
• Part 2
• CODAP lesson on questioning how citizenship is considered from "High School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice" Edited by Robert Q. Berry III, Basil M. Conway IV, Brian R. Lawler, and John W. Staley

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Thank You

• Please reach out if you have questions or comment
• We are also happy to provide support for teachers and districts around teaching statistics and data science concepts and practices
• Email any time tweilan1@charlotte.edu