JISC

Start date: 1 February 2000

End date: 30 June 2001

Funding programme: Learning and Teaching (5/99) programme

Project website: http://datalib.ed.ac.uk/projects/datateach.html

This project is part of the Enhancing JISC data services for Teaching and Learning project cluster in this particular programme. The main focus of projects in this cluster is to improve use of existing JISC owned resources through the JISC data services for learning and teaching.

Background

The UK academic community is rich in numeric datasets. In the socioeconomic field, for example, there are large-scale government surveys, current and historical population censuses, international studies, academic surveys, economic time series, and geographic data. These datasets are disseminated in ways that support the work of academic researchers and have yet to fulfill their potential in the learning and teaching environment. Making effective use of numeric data requires greater skill and more preparation and time than printed materials or bibliographic databases; and students and teachers require a high level of support. While some problems can be solved by data providers or by a national approach to support for learning and teaching, others need to be tackled at the local level.

A team of national and local academic data service providers have joined forces under this project to examine and enhance local support of numeric data analysis in learning and teaching.

Aims and Objectives

The overall aims of the project are to:

• Launch an enquiry into how to lower barriers to the use of numeric data in learning and teaching
• Determine ways to foster and promote effective local data support services able to work independently and in effective collaboration with the national data services

Objectives

The objectives of the project are to:

• Set up a diverse Task Force on the use of numeric data in learning and teaching made up of academic teachers and user supporters
• Open a public electronic forum for solving problems in the use of data in learning and teaching
• Design, disseminate and process a national survey
• Develop six exemplary case studies on using numeric data in the classroom in different disciplines and levels of education
• Analyse the results from the studies, and in consultation with the Task Force, deliver a final report of recommendations

Project design

In order to gather information on local situations across the UK, Social Science departments and others known to be potential data users (eg Public Health Sciences) from a random sample of UK universities will be targeted for postal survey distribution with an option for Web-based completion. The case studies will enhance the study by adding a qualitative dimension to the quantitative survey results. The electronic open forum will allow input from all interested stakeholders and the collective experience of the Task Force members will ensure the quality of the recommendations stemming from the enquiry.

Outcomes

This project will generate knowledge about good practice and pitfalls faced by teachers, students and local support staff in using national data resources. Recommendations will apply to local institutions as well as JISC and national data centres. The final report will mark the end of the project but the goals will be carried forward through the open forum discussion list, the website with the exemplary case studies and the project participants themselves.