11. Integrating Open Government Data Perspectives within Data Literacy Efforts

This poster will cover three separate sets of learning outcomes and lessons plans or roadmaps for open government data-focused teaching instances previously piloted with Columbia University Libraries and the Minor in Data Science Program at the University of Notre Dame: (1) a semester long credit-bearing course that combines reading discussions and engagement with data science tools; (2) an assignment related to metadata enrichment; (3) a workshop related to finding and evaluating open government data. The poster will also discuss strategies to co-define and co-evaluate the concept of “open” with students in varying topics: (1) Open government policies and practices; (2) technological infrastructures that support open data; (3) ethics, privacy, and social justice.

Embedding open government data perspectives in data literacy efforts–whether it’s a workshop or credit-bearing courses–provides a myriad of opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to engage with the technical, legal, and ethical implications of working with civic data. In a credit-bearing course context, students can inspect the major laws and policies surrounding open government while also examining the social and technological challenges and advancements that shape the future of open data—for example, grassroots data intermediaries obtaining and “translating” open government data for a public audience. When a course is more computational or methods-oriented, open government data allows for students to explore the challenges and opportunities of working with data with varying levels of complexity and “cleanliness,” signifying and clarifying the importance and utilitarian role of metadata within the data lifecycle.