Motivation

While many General Education courses at UCSB utilize data as a foundational tool for inquiry, a strategic expansion of GE requirements will ensure that the university is intentionally preparing students for a data-driven future. By formalizing data literacy as a core competency, UCSB can ensure all students, regardless of their field of study, are empowered to interrogate how data is constructed, interpreted, and manipulated. A dedicated Data Literacy Special Subject Area will equip graduates with both the technical proficiency to work with data and the critical lens necessary to identify the historical, social, and ethical limitations of datasets. Through this requirement, UCSB will ensure that its graduates can confidently 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 Curty, Research Data Services Facilitator
  • Susan Cassels, Geography
  • Annie Lamar, Classics

     

  • Paasha Mahdavi, Political Science