The data awareness framework as part of data literacies in K-12 education

In today's digital world, data-driven digital artefacts pose challenges for education, as many students lack an understanding of data and feel powerless when interacting with them. This article addresses these challenges and introduces the data awareness framework. It focuses on understanding data-driven technologies and reflecting on the role of data in everyday life. The paper also presents an empirical study on young school students' data awareness. The study involves a teaching unit on data awareness framed by a pretest-posttest design using a questionnaire on students' awareness and understanding of and reflection on data practices of data-driven digital artefacts. The study's findings indicate that the data awareness framework supports students in understanding data practices of data-driven digital artefacts. The findings also suggest that the framework encourages students to reflect on these data practices and think about their daily behaviour. Students learn a model about interactions with data-driven digital artefacts and use it to analyse data-driven applications. This approach appears to enable students to understand these artefacts from everyday life and reflect on these interactions. The work contributes to research on data and AI literacies and suggests a way to support students in developing self-determination and agency during interactions with data-driven digital artefacts.