Dancing with Data: Embodying the Numerical and Humanistic Sides of Data Kayla DesPortes, NYU, kd90@nyu.edu Ralph Vacca, Fordham University, rvacca2@fordham.edu Marian Tes, NYU, marian.tes@nyu.edu Peter J. Woods, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, peterwoo@mit.edu Camillia Matuk, NYU, cmatuk@nyu.edu Anna Amato, NYU, ada437@nyu.edu Megan Silander, Education Development Center, msilander@edc.org Abstract: Data literacy is important for supporting individuals to incorporate information from research studies into their own perspectives and decision-making processes. However, it can be challenging for students to read, understand, and relate to data. Students have to be able to traverse the representational forms that data takes on (i.e., numerical, graphical, etc.) and connect it to their understanding of a topic. We explore the implementation of a co-designed data-dance unit in which middle school students created their own embodied metaphors to represent and communicate about graphs through dance. In analyzing dance artifacts and post- study interviews with the learners and teachers, we demonstrate how the creation of embodied metaphors in dance led to new ways of exploring the data as learners reflected on different perspectives on topics across numerical values, contexts, and implications. Introduction Dance encompasses technical and creative problem-solving practices that center the body. Dance education supports non-verbal expression that packs and unpacks meaning through movement (Hanna, 2008; Koff, 2000). Dance is not just a practice meant for professionals, but a discipline that offers everyone a way of developing “self-expression and interpretation through motion” (Koff, 2000). The unique embodied practices of dance create opportunities to expand the ways that learners can explore and build understanding with and about data. We co- designed a unit that combines math and contemporary dance practices in which learners explored a set of graphs about chosen topics, and developed dances to represent and communicate about their data. We present findings from this experience answering the following research question: How did learners engage in embodied meaning- making around data in a contemporary dance and data unit? Background Literature Data Literacy and Data Art Data literacy has been critiqued for focusing mostly on technical skills with disregard for broader concepts like citizenship and empowerment, which can exacerbate educational and social inequities (D’Ignazio, 2017). A creative data literacy framing that incorporates art production with data practices can attend to these issues (D’Ignazio, 2017) and help students achieve the same rigor in learning as traditional curricula (Bhargava et al., 2016). In particular, creative data literacy can support students in developing their identities in relation to data (Stornaiuolo, 2019) and seeing themselves as able to “speak data'' through creative practices (D’Ignazio, 2017). Bhargava & D’Ignazio (2017), for instance, show that creating data sculptures helped students overcome initial barriers while attending to their complex ideas. Data art has helped students explore the social-situativity of data through developing narratives, argumentation, and perspective taking (Viégas & Wattenberg, 2007). Data sculptures, for example, have helped students develop their contextual understanding of data, connecting data sets to the social setting where it lives (Sauvé et al., 2020) and facilitated students’ data interpretation in relation to the social context through the sculptures’ ability to embody data using metaphors (Zhao & Moere, 2008). Embodiment of Mathematical Concepts Our work takes a grounded cognitive approach (Barsalou, 2010) to explore ways to promote engagement with data. Specifically, we examine how a data-dance context provides opportunities for learners to create embodied metaphors to think about, represent, and communicate about data. Research suggests that the embodiment of mathematical concepts can benefit students’ learning of abstract ideas in math (Moerman, 2016; Mickelson & Ju, 2010). Several studies have found a positive link between physical movement and cognitive skills associated with mathematical concepts (Fenyvesi et al., 2019; Namukasa et al., 2007). For instance, work by Rosenfeld (2013)