Data Analysis

Data analysis is a skill that helps us collect, organize, and interpret information so we can uncover patterns, draw insights, and reach meaningful conclusions. It involves breaking down complex data from sources like surveys, experiments, or databases into manageable parts, allowing us to make informed decisions. By turning raw information into actionable knowledge, we can better understand the world around us and apply what we learn across different fields.

The importance of data analysis lies in how it helps us make smarter decisions, work more efficiently, and innovate in our work and everyday life. When we analyze data effectively, we can spot trends, evaluate results, and recommend strategies that drive success. In areas such as healthcare, business, education, and technology, these skills help us improve processes, anticipate outcomes, and plan thoughtfully. Developing data analysis also strengthens other essential skills, like critical thinking, problem-solving, and leadership, enabling us to contribute more meaningfully to our organizations and communities.

Course-Based Approaches

Here are some ways to encourage data analysis skills in your course:

Design assignments and discussions that apply data analysis to real-world contexts, using datasets from government, nonprofit, or industry partners to enhance students’ practical experience. Our World in Data is a nonprofit site where students can find data related to current world issues and problems.
Introduce tools to help students conduct data collection and analysis for course projects. Qualtrics and Microsoft Forms are both available to NIU faculty, staff, and students and can be used to create surveys and then organize or export data collected.
Engage students in practicing and sharing data collection and analysis within the classroom, connecting these activities to current learning goals and skill development, or conducting your own evaluations of student understanding.

Programmatic Approaches

Go further by encouraging data analysis at the program or department level with these ideas:

Disciplinary Integration

Tailor data literacy and analysis to individual programs (e.g., interpreting clinical data in nursing, analyzing demographic trends in sociology). Western Governors University’s College of IT, College of Business, and College of Health all offer programs that focus on the skill of data analysis.

Data-Focused Inernships

Collaborate with local businesses or public agencies for internships that encourage students to practice their data analysis skills in the workplace. NIU’s Career Services provides listings of internships and resources to help students apply.

Conference to Showcase Data Analysis

Organize or incorporate conferences or symposiums where students, faculty, and professionals can connect, share research, and face real-world challenges. NIU’s Conference on Undergraduate Research and Engagement is an opportunity for students to share their research and data analysis skills. NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology (CEET) hosts their Innovation Showcase, where students, faculty, and industry leaders present research and demonstrate how information, materials, and skills—including digital analysis—shape their work and advance developments in the field.

Resources

Data, Data Everywhere and Not a Number to Teach! — This video from the University of Michigan explores the ways data can be misrepresented and offers strategies for helping students become more critical and informed interpreters of data.
Developing Your Data Analysis Skills — This guide from Western Governors University highlights how data analysis skills can be applied across a variety of workplaces and fields.
The Future of Jobs Report 2023 — This report from the World Economic Forum identifies that analytical thinking skills are among the most-in demand skills among employers, and that they are predicted to increase in importance by 72% between 2023 and 2028.
The Inquiry and Analysis VALUE Rubric — This page from the American Association of Colleges and Universities includes a rubric to help evaluate whether assessments are meeting student learning outcome standards for inquiry and analysis.
Just Figures: A Method to Introduce Students to Data Analysis One Figure at a Time — This article by Julia Massimelli, Kameryn Denaro, Brian Sato, Pavan Kadandale, and Nancy Boury in the Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education introduces the Just Figures activity, which helps students practice data analysis skills.
Teaching Information Literacy in an Age of Misinformation — This article from Krista Black in Faculty Focus discusses how to introduce data analysis and evaluate the credibility of data.