Author(s): Sydney Lanning
Mentor(s): Maggie Marchant
Institution BYU
Data literacy is an irreplaceable skill for college students that currently lacks structured understanding and tangible improvement. With the constant addition of new technology, the amount of available data is consistently increasing. This heightens both the need for and the work required to become proficient in the skill for entrants into the workforce. Many job opportunities now require data skills on a resume to stand out from other applicants, especially since data literacy increases critical thinking and other valuable cognition skills. Since data is necessary in every field, this should be an important emphasis for college students in any major. Increased access to data also shows that data literacy is best improved by real practice with authentic data because many data skills are not intuitive or taught in preliminary education. In a university setting, a structured course environment is likely the most effective way to provide expert guidance and data practice. The actual improvement of individual data literacy is highly influenced by the exercise of one’s autonomy in choosing to improve their skillset. However, many students are not exercising their autonomy because they are unaware of the importance of having hard data skills, the resources their universities are offering, and the best way to access them. Through systematic promotions and organized accessibility from universities, students can become more informed about data skill learning opportunities. In order to increase data literacy among Brigham Young University (BYU) students, we implemented a Data Resources website to increase awareness of data resources at BYU. We catalogued courses that include data skills in the learning outcomes in order to simplify the search process and encourage student autonomy. We presented this material with interactive dashboards to create a user-friendly experience. We also organized data opportunities by discipline, software, data skill, and General Education credit. This allows students to explore the data resources through their own interests and see how valuable data courses can be seamlessly integrated into their course schedule. Likewise, we also consolidated additional helpful data skills and self-taught learning resources that may be more conducive with student goals. With this website, we hope to effectively market opportunities for students to improve their data literacy through professional instruction, hands-on experience with real data, and practice using it in real software, which will increase their educational and occupational value in their future endeavors.