Home Plan and prepare Scope and sequence (F–10) Years 7–8 Collaborative data project
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Select a topic across a two year cycle

Recommended any combination of three topics per year.
Choose a combination of units that suits your students and context.

JAN DEC

Cycle one (Year 7)

Jan Jun Dec

Cycle two (Year 8)

Jan Jun Dec

Collaborative data project

Overview

This unit provides an opportunity for students to apply the data-analysis skills from the ‘Working with data’ unit in the context of a digital solution designed, developed and evaluated collaboratively. Project management principles and skills are explicitly introduced in pathway 1, then three different option pathways provide contexts and ideas for student projects that involve the collection and analysis of data and the presentation of information. Choose one pathway that suits your students’ needs, school context and available resources.

By the end of Year 8 students develop and modify creative digital solutions, decompose real-world problems, and evaluate alternative solutions against user stories and design criteria.

Students acquire, interpret and model data with spreadsheets and represent data with integers and binary.

They select and use a range of digital tools efficiently and responsibly to create, locate and share content; and to plan, collaborate on and manage projects.

Content descriptions

Investigating and defining AC9TDI8P04

Generating and designing AC9TDI8P08

Evaluating AC9TDI8P10

Collaborating and managing AC9TDI8P11, AC9TDI8P12

Related content and General Capabilities

Mathematics: Statistics AC9M7ST03, AC9M8ST01, AC9M8ST04

Digital Literacy: Practising digital safety and wellbeing, Investigating, Managing and operating

Critical and Creative Thinking

Personal and Social capability: Social management

  • explore agile project management and use digital tools to manage a collaborative project
  • refamiliarise themselves with a design methodology, and use it to guide their project
  • design a data investigation using user stories and design criteria
  • apply the data acquisition and analysis skills from the ‘Working with data’ unit, considering data privacy
  • use digital tools to present their information
  • evaluate their data investigation.

 

This unit is intended to be undertaken after the ‘Working with data’ unit, which introduces data collection principles and specific spreadsheet skills. Additionally, design methodology and user stories are not explicitly reintroduced here – see the ‘Creating a digital solution’ unit for resources on those topics.

The first two option pathways in this unit provide different data collection options for projects where students work in teams to design, perform and evaluate a data investigation. Both options include collection, analysis and visualisation of data with the final presentation produced in the form of an infographic.

  • The pathway ‘Primary and secondary data investigation’ focuses on collecting data through a digital survey as well as from an online repository.
  • The pathway ‘Analysing sensor data’ focuses on obtaining data from electronic sensors using the popular micro:bit classroom device or other options available in your school. It may include a small amount of programming.

 The third option pathway 'Machine learning research' provides a more open-ended opportunity with students conducting research on an artificial intelligence (AI) tool such as Google Teachable Machine.

Collaborative data projectImage

Achievement standards

Digital Technologies: Years 7–8

By the end of Year 8 students develop and modify creative digital solutions, decompose real-world problems, and evaluate alternative solutions against user stories and design criteria.

Students acquire, interpret and model data with spreadsheets and represent data with integers and binary.

They select and use a range of digital tools efficiently and responsibly to create, locate and share content; and to plan, collaborate on and manage projects.

Unit sequence

This topic offers 3 pathways

Core Unit

Project management

Students explore agile approaches to project management, as well as digital tools to share, plan and manage work collaboratively.
Learn More

Project management

What is this about?

Large endeavours benefit from the effective use of project management techniques, whether individual or collaborative. Students explore agile approaches to project management, as well as digital tools to share, plan and manage work collaboratively.

Although it is associated with a number of specific tools and practices, 'agile' is the name given to a set of values and principles for creating a solution. This approach was developed as a response to the shortcomings of more traditional approaches for software development, such as 'waterfall'.

Content description

Investigating and defining AC9TDI8P04

Generating and designing AC9TDI8P08

Evaluating AC9TDI8P10

Collaborating and managing AC9TDI8P11, AC9TDI8P12

 

This sequence enables students to:

  • explore agile project management and use digital tools to manage a collaborative project
  • refamiliarise themselves with a design methodology, and use it to guide their project
  • design a data investigation using user stories and design criteria
  • apply the data acquisition and analysis skills from the ‘Working with data’ unit, considering data privacy
  • use digital tools to present their information.

Supplementary information

While resources for Gantt charts are included, Gantt charts are more associated with traditional project management than with agile methodologies.

Resources to include

Resources to introduce

Resources to develop and consolidate learning

Further reading and professional learning

Primary and secondary data investigation

What is this about?

Using agile project management, students work in teams to conduct a data investigation for a specific audience.

A design process like the ones already introduced in the 'Creating a digital solution’ unit can be applied to a data investigation as follows:

  1. Define a problem or opportunity requiring information from data, employing user stories to empathise with the target audience for the solution.
  2. Ideate and design the information presentation, which will take the form of an infographic with data visualisations.
  3. Develop the solution by
    1. collecting primary data through a digital survey
    2. collecting secondary data through an online repository
    3. using a spreadsheet (or, optionally, programming) to analyse the data and produce visualisations.
    4. presenting the information by developing the infographic according to the design.
  4. Evaluate and iterate on the solution to improve it.

Content descriptions

Define and decompose real-world problems with design criteria and by creating user stories AC9TDI8P04

Generate, modify, communicate and evaluate alternative designs AC9TDI8P08

Evaluate existing and student solutions against the design criteria, user stories and possible future impact AC9TDI8P10

Select and use a range of digital tools efficiently, including unfamiliar features, to create, locate and communicate content, consistently applying common conventions AC9TDI8P11

Select and use a range of digital tools efficiently and responsibly to share content online, and plan and manage individual and collaborative agile projects AC9TDI8P12

This sequence enables students to:

  • practise a design methodology for the definition, design, development and evaluation of a data presentation solution
  • conduct a data analysis with data collected from two sources
  • produce an infographic with data visualisations
  • apply agile project management to the collaborative project.

Resources to include

Resources to introduce

Resources to develop and consolidate learning

Resources to extend and integrate learning

Further reading and professional learning

Analysing sensor data

What is this about?

Using agile project management, students work in teams to conduct a data investigation where the data comes from electronic sensors.

A design process like the ones already introduced in the ‘Creating a digital solution’ unit can be applied to a data investigation as follows:

    1. Define a problem or opportunity requiring information from data, employing user stories to empathise with the target audience for the solution.
    2. Ideate and design the information presentation, which will take the form of an infographic with data visualisations.
    3. Develop the solution by
        1. collecting data from school data loggers, or from a programmable classroom device like the micro:bit
        2. using a spreadsheet (or, optionally, programming) to analyse the data and produce visualisations.
        3. presenting the information by developing the infographic according to the design.
    4. Evaluate and iterate on the solution to improve it.

Content description

Define and decompose real-world problems with design criteria and by creating user stories AC9TDI8P04

Generate, modify, communicate and evaluate alternative designs AC9TDI8P08

Evaluate existing and student solutions against the design criteria, user stories and possible future impact AC9TDI8P10

Select and use a range of digital tools efficiently, including unfamiliar features, to create, locate and communicate content, consistently applying common conventions AC9TDI8P11

Select and use a range of digital tools efficiently and responsibly to share content online, and plan and manage individual and collaborative agile projects AC9TDI8P12

 

This sequence enables students to:

  • practise a design methodology for the definition, design, development and evaluation of a data presentation solution
  • conduct a data analysis with data collected from electronic sensors
  • (optionally) practise programming an electronic device like the micro:bit
  • produce an infographic with data visualisations
  • apply agile project management to the collaborative project.

Supplementary information

The resources in this pathway option assume a class set of micro:bit devices (enough for one per team), however other options may be available in your school, such as data loggers in a science lab or classroom robotics like Lego robotics kits.

The pathway also includes some programming to set up the micro:bit for data collection. Students may use Python or JavaScript to apply general purpose programming skills relevant to Years 7–8, or the programming for this unit may be done using visual code.

Resources to include

Resources to introduce

Resources to develop and consolidate learning

Further reading and professional learning

Machine learning research

What is this about?

This pathway option provides an alternative, open-ended research opportunity without requiring a spreadsheet or conventional programming approach to data analysis.

Using agile project management, students work in teams to conduct an investigation into an AI tool such as Google Teachable Machine. The research could consider one or more of the following questions, and should include testing of an actual tool to inform conclusions:

  • How does machine learning differ from spreadsheet or conventional programming?
  • What is data bias or algorithmic bias, and what problems can it cause?
  • With the use of AI applications, what are the implications for data privacy?

A design process like the ones already introduced in the ‘Creating a digital solution’ unit can be applied to a data investigation as follows:

  1. Define a problem or opportunity requiring information from data, employing user stories to empathise with the target audience for the solution.
  2. Ideate and design the information presentation, which will take the form of an oral presentation, poster or infographic.
  3. Develop the solution by:
    1. performing testing on an AI tool to obtain some quantitative data that might inform how it works
    2. undertaking separate, qualitative research on AI and machine learning
    3. analysing the test results to produce information
    4. presenting the information and research findings as an oral presentation, poster or infographic.
  4. Evaluate and iterate on the solution to improve it.

Content descriptions

Define and decompose real-world problems with design criteria and by creating user stories AC9TDI8P04

Generate, modify, communicate and evaluate alternative designs AC9TDI8P08

Evaluate existing and student solutions against the design criteria, user stories and possible future impact AC9TDI8P10

Select and use a range of digital tools efficiently, including unfamiliar features, to create, locate and communicate content, consistently applying common conventions AC9TDI8P11

Select and use a range of digital tools efficiently and responsibly to share content online, and plan and manage individual and collaborative agile projects AC9TDI8P12

This sequence enables students to:

  • practise a design methodology for the definition, design, development and evaluation of a data presentation solution
  • conduct a data analysis with data collected from testing as well as qualitative research
  • produce an information presentation – an oral presentation, poster or infographic
  • apply agile project management to the collaborative project.

Supplementary information

This pathway option is slightly less defined than the other two pathway options, and may be more suited to students with a particular interest in the topic of AI and machine learning.

Resources to include

Resources to introduce

Resources to develop and consolidate learning

Resources to extend and integrate learning

Further reading and professional learning