Data Literacy Institute
ISU has long been a partner with APLU’s Powered by Publics (PxP), an initiative to address retention and graduation. As part of the PxP work, Illinois State has the opportunity to participate in the Data Literacy Institute (DLI) lead by the Association for Institutional Research.
A cohort of 20 individuals from across the institution, including faculty, advisors, administrators, student affairs, and other staff directly involved with student learning, development, or support will engage in a 2-semester learning experience where participants learn to collect, analyze, interpret, communicate, and make actionable data related to a group determined student success problem.
Teams of 4-5 will identify a student success issue and engage in facilitated workshops and hands-on work to understand the problem using data analysis and use data informed decision making. Sample problems from other PxP universities include: reducing student loan debt; impact of early alerts on high DFWI courses; success and retention of male students of color; and planned vs actual course load.
The Institute is comprised of 2 semesters, each 3 months in length. Every month offers a different section of DLI content and includes approximately 20 hours of work: 4 hours of webinars, 8 hours of virtual seminars, and 8 hours of independent/group work. Participants will begin by learning the basics of data and end with a full set of data literacy skills.
Fall semester: The first term runs from September through mid-December and includes three sections, each approximately one month long. The collaborative research project is kicked off at the start of the Institute and weaves throughout the curricula. The fall semester will involve topics such as: developing the question/problem, connecting questions to data, and analyzing the data.
Spring semester: The second term runs from February through mid-May and includes three sections, each approximately one month long. The term culminates with completion and presentation of the collaborative research project. This semester will involve topics such as: conveying the information to your audience, taking action, and closing the loop.
A full description of the curriculum can be found in the Data literacy Institute Program Guide.