Center for Latin American Studies

March 3, 2017 - Come explore how to implement real-world data from Latin America into any classroom! CLAS is partnering with the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) to bring public opinion data in Latin America to your classroom. Through years of polling in most of the countries of Latin America, LAPOP has developed a treasure-trove of databases of public opinion information about varying viewpoints across Latin America. LAPOP is the leader in cutting-edge methods and best practices in research on opinions and behaviors with respect to democratic governance, economic well-being, health, security, education, etc. Dr. Mariana Rodriguez will introduce teachers to LAPOP’s methodology, data collection process, and ways to access and bring the data right into your classroom. Teachers from Hillsboro High School will share how they used LAPOP data to plan and teach a PBL unit on Social Justice in their Spanish, Math, History and Social Studies classrooms. Math experts and Social Studies teachers alike will find value in LAPOP’s data and discover interdisciplinary ways to bring Latin American content to your classroom!

LAPOP Webpage

LAPOP began with the study of democratic values in one country, Costa Rica, at a time when much of the rest of Latin America was caught in the grip of repressive regimes that widely prohibited studies of public opinion (and systematically violated human rights and civil liberties). Today, fortunately, such studies can be carried out openly and freely in virtually all countries in the region.

LAPOP Interactive Data Analysis Tool

This  System for Online Data Analysis (SODA)  is free and interactive, and does not require any registration. It is particularly useful for those individuals who do not have access to or skills to use advanced statistical software programs. Using this tool, you can conduct analyses in both Spanish and English, conduct simple tabulations, and run complicated multivariate analyses on all of AmericasBarometer data sets. We have developed a  handbook  that provides an introduction to the data analysis capacities of the SODA.

Parable of the Polygons

"Parable of the Polygons is a game featured on the website that perfectly demonstrates cross-curricular alignment via the exploration of historical segregation bred by racism (or, by extension, any other differences that exist among populations of people)." -Stephanie Knight, Games2Teach

PBL by Hillsboro High School IBDP

...coming soon!