Misuse of Data as a Teaching Tool

Abstract

This work reports on the implementation of a self-contained data-literacy exercise designed for use in undergraduate classes to help students practice data literacy skills such as interpreting and evaluating evidence and assessing arguments based on data. The exercises use already developed data-visualizations to test and develop students’ ability to evaluate arguments based on data presented visually. Moreover, the exercises are designed to teach students positive lessons from evaluating flawed examples of data usage. We show that repeated use of these exercises has the potential to help students develop tools they can use across multiple contexts when evaluating data. Student feedback and panel survey data show that students like to learn using these tools and they report increased comfort levels in working with data. The paper argues that instructional tools like these data visualization exercises are a quick and effective tool for teaching data literacy skills and that they have significant utility in non-research-methods courses.