Teaching Big Data Concepts through Air Pollution Data: A High School Instructional Module

Abstract

In this study, we developed an instructional module consisting of four units to help high school students understand the 4V concepts of big data by exploring air pollution. The instructional module enabled students to explore air quality data on specific websites, and asked students to create a "calendar heat map" using open dataset. We taught the module in a high school class and the results demonstrated that students gained knowledge about big data, and became more aware of the impact of air pollution in their lives.