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11. Differentiation and inclusion

Different starting points

Students arrive with very different Maths confidence, English reading levels and computer experience. Strategies used throughout the teacher guides:

Support * partially filled tables and sentence starters ("The median is ___ because ___"); * worked examples before independent tasks; one step at a time; * paper version before the computer version; * pairing with a supportive partner in the data-steward role; * glossary in Nepali and English (Appendix B); allow explanations in any language.

Stretch * ★★★ exercises and real-data exercises; * "What would change your conclusion?" and "Who is missing?" questions; * extension tasks: a second dataset, a different method, a dashboard; * mentoring younger students.

Language

The curriculum is written in English with Nepali key terms; Nepali chapter translations are being prepared (community/translations/STATUS.md). In class: * explain concepts in the language students think in; keep technical terms (column, median, query) consistent; * code keywords are English (SELECT, for) — teach them as vocabulary; * data can be in any language: Devanagari text in CSVs works in all tools if saved as UTF-8.

Gender

Girls are under-represented in computing in Nepal as elsewhere. What helps: * deliberate rotation of keyboard roles; * examples that matter to everyone (health, environment, community); * visible role models (invite women working in data, statistics, public health, engineering); * watch participation in discussions and lab access; * make the "Who is missing?" habit apply to the classroom too.

Students with disabilities

  • Visual: large fonts; high-contrast and colour-blind-safe charts (viridis palettes); describe charts in words; screen readers work with notebooks and spreadsheets.
  • Hearing: written instructions on the board; captioned videos.
  • Motor: pair programming roles; keyboard shortcuts.
  • Learning differences: chunk tasks; checklists; extra time; oral alternatives to written work.

Students affected by the topics

Some datasets touch students' lives: the 2015 earthquake, migration of family members, poverty, health. Always offer an alternative dataset, avoid singling anyone out, and use aggregated or synthetic data for practice.

Rural and urban

Choose local contexts for hooks. A rural student's knowledge of crops, weather and markets is expertise — use it (Grade 12 capstones with cooperatives, community forest groups, health posts).