Motivation

While many General Education courses at UCSB utilize data as a foundational tool for inquiry, there is currently no requirement that specifically targets data literacy as a core competency. Consequently, students can satisfy their STEM requirements through domain-specific content without ever being challenged to interrogate how data is constructed, interpreted, and manipulated.

A dedicated Data Literacy Special Subject Area is essential to bridge this gap. It will equip graduates with the technical proficiency to work with data and the critical lens necessary to identify the historical, social, and ethical limitations of datasets. By formalizing this requirement, UCSB will ensure that all graduates, regardless of major, can navigate and critique the data-driven structures that govern modern society. To this end, we propose the following Program Learning Objectives (PLOs):

Program Learning Objectives (draft 4/22/2026)

  • Critically Evaluate Data: Analyze the provenance, representativeness, and limitations of datasets. Define the factors that affect the interpretation of data, such as "noise," measurement bias, the historical, social, or scientific contexts of how data is collected, and whether data arises from experimentation or observation and how this impacts potential causal conclusions.
  • Communicate and Critique Data Ethically: Effectively visualize data to communicate narratives while critically evaluating the ethical implications of data use, including algorithmic bias and the impact of data on power structures.
  • Apply Data Methods and Tools: Demonstrate proficiency with tools such as spreadsheets, programming languages, or specialized software to organize, manipulate, and analyze data to answer specific research questions.

Data Literacy GE Working Group

  • Alexander Franks, Statistics and Applied Probability (co-Lead)
  • Linda Adler-Kassner, Associate Vice Chancellor of Teaching and Learning (co-Lead)
  • Umesh Mishra, Dean, College of Engineering
  • Trisalyn Nelson, Geography
  • Laurel Brehm, Linguistics
  • Phill Conrad, Computer Science
  • Jack Miller, Statistics and Applied Probability
  • Rebecca Metzger, Librarian for Learning & Engagement
  • Renata Curry, Research Data Services Librarian

  • Susie Cassels, Geography

  • Annie Lamar, Classics