Tuva envisions a world where every student experiences the joy of learning math and science through real-world contexts. We imagine a future in which all students possess data literacy and use it to contribute positively to society.
Our mission is to enable authentic learning in all classrooms and for all students. We are realizing our mission by…
Tuva supports educators in creating rich, meaningful learning experiences for students. We curate datasets from primary sources, design cross-curricular lessons, and provide resources for professional learning.
In our dataset library, teachers will find a wide selection of real-world datasets from local, national, and international agencies and published researchers. Our datasets are curated for classroom accessibility to give students targeted opportunities to learn about phenomena and places from the patterns they discover in the data. Datasets collected or generated about actual events have built-in relevance. This relevance drives student engagement, as they delve into topics of interest to themselves, their families, and their communities. Making real-world connections helps students understand why they are learning a specific math or science concept and is a proven strategy for building a sense of belonging amongst and retaining historically underrepresented students in the maths and sciences.
With our standards-aligned learning activities, teachers can prompt their students to think analytically and across disciplines. Math skills come alive when they are rooted in real-world situations and numbers; data is the lifeblood of science; understanding of social sciences is based on large sets of geographic, demographic, and economic data.
Growing up in a data-driven world, today’s students will need to be data literate to effectively engage in civic and professional life. We define data literacy as the ability to explore and analyze data in various forms, ask questions about data, and use it as evidence for argumentation and decision-making. We believe that if students actively participate in the cycle of inquiry, engaging with data often and in different contexts, they will develop skills in reasoning and solving problems by seeking evidence.
Tuva has developed a data literacy framework delineating fundamental skills and mapping out students’ anticipated progression. We recognize a need for scaffolding in data literacy education. For each skill, we’ve generated classroom resources, such as teacher guides and reference handouts. Our resources help students progress from descriptive comprehension to quantitative analysis to statistical interpretation.
A new type of literacy demands a new set of tools. The Tuva data, graphing, and statistical tools enable students to quickly explore, manipulate, and analyze data in a way that is difficult to do with traditional spreadsheet software or graphing paper. Users drag and drop attributes into the plotting area to create a variety of graphs and easily revise them as their thinking changes or new questions emerge. The simplicity of our tools allows students to engage in critical data moves, from filtering to creating mathematical models to displaying statistical measures. With the Tuva Tools, students are able to explore large, complex datasets like STEM professionals.
Tuva is also filling an unmet need for data literacy in the elementary grades. Attending to the unique development of young learners, we are blazing a trail with the research and development of Tuva Jr. tools. Tuva Jr. tools strive to build kids’ confidence and reduce math anxiety with a playful environment. Designers carefully scaffolded the data experience using research into children’s data literacy development. Students begin by interacting with playing cards, sorting and ordering them through drag-and-drop. In the next step, cards transform into playful icons in a dot plot, enabling students to observe collective dataset properties and create basic graphs.
We provide free access to our data, graphing, and statistical tools as part of our commitment to equitable education. We believe every student deserves the opportunity to develop data literacy skills by working with data. Furthermore, we are committed to making these tools accessible to learners with diverse cognitive and physical abilities. To find out more about accessibility, read Tuva’s Commitment to Accessibility.
Get started exploring the Tuva Tools on your own at tuvalabs.com/tools/, or learn how to use them using our free tutorials at tuvalabs.com/tutorials/.
We partner with math and science companies in the US and globally to bring the Tuva Tools, datasets, and data literacy experiences into other leading curriculum programs. Learn more about how we partner with other education programs here.
We also partner with assessment companies to develop and bring innovative Tuva-powered data and graphing-related items and tasks into next-generation math and science assessments. As we continue to make progress in bringing Tuva-powered math and science items to state tests, we are committed to ensuring that the Tuva Tools always remain freely available and accessible for all students.