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Elevate Data Literacy to Achieve Data-Informed Decision-Making in Higher Education

Academic Performance Solutions Data Literacy Training Toolkit

This tool is designed to help Academic Performance Solutions (APS) users, such as deans and department chairs, understand and build foundational skills for strong data literacy.

As the higher education landscape is continuously evolving, the necessity and importance of using data to make more informed decisions regarding resource allocation, student progress, and course management is more pressing than ever before. However, access to data alone does not create data experts overnight. Data literacy is the cornerstone for successfully building data-informed cultures. Without strong data literacy, users are insufficiently armed with the necessary tools to use, interpret, and act on data.

Through partner conversations and research conducted across the last decade by EAB, the Academic Performance Solutions team has identified six skills essential to being a data-literate individual in higher education.

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    Data literacy

    The ability to read, write, and communicate data in context, including an understanding of data sources and constructs, analytical methods and techniques applied—and the ability to describe the use case, application, and resulting value. –Gartner

6 skills for data literacy in higher education

This toolkit is designed to support users of the APS platform in laying the groundwork for data literacy by understanding basic statistics, data definitions, and methodology, as well as how to reconcile data incongruities and use data to tell a compelling story. Download the full toolkit or explore each section below on the six skills higher education leaders need to find, evaluate, and use data effectively.

Skill 1: Data Inquiry

As the higher education landscape evolves and resources become constrained, leveraging the power of data to inform decisions is not an option—it is a necessity. And the why is as important as the what. Before jumping into the data, it is important to understand the question(s) you are investigating with the data.

Explore the questions APS data can answer and four key activities the data can support.

Learn About Data Inquiry

Skill 2: Data Location

As institutions continue to evolve their data infrastructures, academic leaders must understand where they can find relevant data and how to access it. In this toolkit section, learn about the numerous dashboards in the APS platform, their many reports and analyses, and how to log in.

Find the Right Data

Skills 3 and 4: Data Comprehension and Interpretation

For first-time data users, data can be overwhelming if basic statistics for data analysis, methodologies, and/or key terms are not familiar. However, these concepts help users understand what the data signify and what they mean in context.

Review our guide on basic statistics for data analysis, APS key terms and data methodology, and how APS data compares to internally reported data.

Access the Data Interpretation Tools

Skills 5 and 6: Question Posing and Data Use

Data storytelling is a method of communicating information that pairs data with visualization and narrative tailored to a particular audience. It helps users pose new questions for investigation and apply insights to their decision-making.

To help partners craft a narrative out of their data, we’ve outlined the components of an effective story and provided a data storytelling example.

Tell a Story With Data

This resource requires EAB partnership access to view.

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Learn how you can get access to this resource as well as hands-on support from our experts through Academic Performance Solutions.

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