Thing 17: Data literacy & outreach
Overview
Teaching: 15 min
Exercises: 15 minQuestions
What resources exist for building an inclusive culture of data literacy - not just scientists and science disciplines?
Objectives
Find and share resources and think about the skills we need as information and data professionals.
Getting started: enjoy a quirky video and find some resources to build data literacy
Learn more: tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor?: is data literacy the same for all of us?
Challenge me: B(uild)YO data technical skills through the 4 Carpentries.
Getting started: Building data literacy - what can you do?
We all have a role to play in building a world of data literate citizens.
Enjoy this quirky and clever 1.48min video from a cartoonist:
(YouTube)
Exploring data literacy resources
Choose one of the sites from the list below. As you look around the site, think about how you might use these ideas to ‘grow’ your, or other people’s, data literacy:
- For Universities and research institutes: Data Information Literacy & Data Information Literacy Instruction Program Planning
- For Federal, State or Local Govt: NCBI & Data.gov
- For Business: Open data that drives business (UK, 2015)
- For librarians: A “top ten” list of recommendations for libraries to get started with research data management from LIBER (3 pages).
Your role in data literacy
What you are going to do in your role to promote data literacy and what resources might you use? What are some other resources you know about which are useful for building data literacy?
Learn more: Data literacy for whom?
People have very diverse needs in terms of what data literacy means for them.
Choose from the list below and explore “data literacy” from the perspectives of these diverse roles. Capture any key points and share with the class.
- Data informed learning
- Librarians: What is data literacy in Libraryland?
- Entrepreneurs: Data Literacy – What It Is And Why None of Us Have It (from Forbes Magazine)
- Political science students: Data Literacy and Data Visualization Lecture 1: Introduction (Note: you need iTunes)
- Writers, journalists: Become Data Literate in 3 Simple Steps- checking the facts when writing the news
- Teachers and high school students: Data Literacy is Essential to Modern Society, which looks at teaching data literacy through Winning and losing on the Lottery. Video 3.51mins (2016)
- Citizens: Open data for accountable governance: Is data literacy the key to citizen engagement?
- College instructors: Teaching with data “is a portal where faculty can find resources and ideas to reduce the challenges of bringing real data into post-secondary classes.”
Universal data literacy?
What are your ideas about how we can build universal data literacy if we have such diverse needs?
Challenge me: DIY to build your own data literacy
Technical data wrangling skills are fast becoming a new form of data literacy. The four Carpentry concepts have really taken off over the past couple of years.
The “hour a week” for 23 (research data) Things doesn’t allow time to do any of the Carpentry modules (most need a couple of hours to complete) but here’s a chance to find out what all the Carpentry buzz is about.
Technical data wrangling skills
Have a look at this Environmental scan of courses offering data skills (this is a google doc – if you have trouble opening it, access via link from Thing 17). Then choose 1 Carpentry to explore in depth or browse over them all:
What is one skill you would like to add to your data tool-belt?
We will get more hands-on with Carpentry in Thing 21.
Value of the Carpentries
Your ideas or experience about the value of the various Carpentry courses.
Key Points
First key point.