Write a paper analyzing the construction, analysis, and presentation of a set of big data, and explain how data-informed decision-making occurs in relation to the regulatory climate in which the institution operates. The data set you choose can be one you have found in your professional reading, one that you are familiar with in your own institution, or one that has caught your interest from the media.
Your tasks in the paper are to:
· Describe the source of the data, how it was collected, and how it is stored.
· Explain how the regulations at your institution, your district, or your state limit and guide the collection and analysis. Consider such factors as confidentiality and privacy.
· Select one (1) example of how the data are presented. It can be a table, a chart, or a text description. Based on your reading about data visualization (in the Booth, et. al. text), assess the strength of the evidence being presented.
· Discuss, after reading the Scientific American article (and watching the Rosling video), how the data might be presented in a more powerful and persuasive manner to make the case it intends. Be creative!
· Be sure to use proper APA format and style throughout your paper.
· Readings and Media
Visual Communication of Evidence
· Read Chapter 15, "Communicating Evidence Visually," in the Booth, et. al. text, The Craft of Research, pages 213–251.
Pay particular attention to the variety of ways that data can be presented; note the strengths and weaknesses of the different methods; and try to understand the principles that govern different forms of charts and graphs.
Your reading will help you in completing first assignment and discussion in this unit.
Data-Informed Leadership in Education
· Read Section One, "Introduction: Data in Decision-making and Leadership," pages 1–10, and the concluding sections on pages 32–45 in Knapp, Swinnerton, Copland, and Monpas-Huber's 2006 paper, Data Informed Leadership.
This reading will help you understand the organizational basis of using large data sets for educational decision-making. It will:
· Address the background of such data.
· Explore the regulatory issues that must be dealt with in collecting and using such data.
· Examine the technical requirements of its storage.
Consider the merits of several examples of large-scale data use in decision-making and assess them in the light of the Booth, et. al. reading. Big Data begins with the collection and storage of large-scale datasets, and sets the stage for its presentation.
The reading will assist you in completing the Unit 7 assignments.
Media
Hans Rosling: Data Presenter Extraordinaire
In this video, 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes, Han Rosling, the Swedish statistician and demographer, demonstrates how different the presentation of big data can and must be. Rosling manages to make vast amounts of information come alive in a way that's not only entertaining, but has the power to permanently change the way you view the world around you.
Watch the video at least twice, noting how contemporary computer programming and data visualization techniques taken from his Gapminder Analysis program, can make dull numeric data come alive. (Note: Google uses a version of Gapminder for its massive data analysis strategies.) Read the comments that others have made about Rosling's work.
Don't try to understand the underlying techniques or try to imagine how you might use such approaches in your own profession. That will come later. For this unit, just marvel and enjoy!
In the Unit 7 assignments and discussions, feel free to express your reactions to the video. In addition, as an optional activity, do a Google search on "Hans Rosling" and spend an hour or so watching a variety of videos that he has made. Each is more exciting than the last!
· Web Resources
The Data Visualization Revolution
Read Buckler's Scientific American blog post, "Data Visualization: Trudging Through the Digital Road to New Scientific Discovery." This article deals with the revolution in data visualization. It will provide background information and a new perspective on how big data can be analyzed and presented.
Conventional analysis and presentation of statistical information is becoming less and less used in the kinds of professional literature that many of you will deal with routinely. More and more, the traditional approaches to statistics using numbers, statistical tests, and tables of data are giving way to the use of sophisticated computer programs (described in the article) that keep the analysis techniques in the background, and that use shapes and colors to present trends and patterns in the data.
Reading this background material will set the stage for the media presentations to come.