Data Literacy in Business Curriculum: A Case Study of Student Reception and Success Factors
21st Annual International Conference on Management (ATINER), Athens, Yunanistan, 26 - 29 Haziran 2023, ss.42-43, (Özet Bildiri)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
- Basıldığı Şehir: Athens
- Basıldığı Ülke: Yunanistan
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.42-43
- Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır
Özet
Despite the assertion that data literacy is considered to be a life skill in 21st century society, however, there are not many courses and/or programs offered especially in social sciences and business schools and research into data literacy in social sciences or business education is scarce. With relatively few experiences, data literacy education in social science fields remains mostly uncharted territory. In order to contribute to closing this gap, this paper describes the development, design and implementation of a compulsory ―Data Literacy for Business and Social Sciences‖ course added to curricula of all undergraduate programs of a Business Faculty and presents (1) an analysis of student response and performance, and (2) implications of our findings for improving course design for business students. A blended flipped-classroom model was adopted in course design where the students were provided with videos, slides and other course materials to study on their own and attended face-to-face lab sessions where they practiced with instructors. During course implementation, we collected data on the learning management system about student effort, student performance data, and also conducted a self reflection survey at the beginning and the end of semester. We have then analyzed performance variations and clusters on the one hand, and factors affecting student performance on the other. The course design was a modular one and consisted of three consecutive modules: ―data essentials‖, ―data management‖, and ―data storytelling‖. Our cluster analysis uncovered a large cluster of students who stumbled upon the second module, and consequently became demotivated and dissociated from the course. This is an important implication for course design and therefore we agreed to swap modules two and three in the following semester. The self reflection survey included questions to measure students‘ self confidence on various data literacy topics. Analysis of responses has shown a considerable improvement in student performance at the end of the semester. More importantly, at the beginning of the semester, female students exhibited lower levels of confidence compared to their male counterparts in most subjects; however, at the end of the semester, their confidence surpassed that of male students. This is a significant result indicating that inclusion of such courses in the curriculum contributes not only to data skill development but also to abridging the infamous gender gap in this area. On the other hand, our analysis of the factors affecting student performance has shown no effect of demographic factors such as sex, age, and department. The results show that students‘ effort, i.e. watching videos and using online materials and their overall GPA are the only statistically significant factors on student performance in the course. Combined with the previous findings, these results highlight that female students have no disadvantage in these subjects, and their relatively low confidence is remedied by taking a course on data literacy. Overall, the experience reported in this study explores the pathways to include data literacy subjects in social science and business curriculum, showcases the utilization of learning analytics in course evaluation and provides important clues for improving course design in this relatively new field.