Data Literacy for Master Level in University of Helsinki

If students are doing independent research projects for their thesis, basic data management skills should be part of their curricula. Also reusing existing data requires understanding of data citation and management. Both Bauder (2021) and Marzal and Prado (2013) consider data literacy as part of information literacy. Bauder continues that data related skills are a good fit in the 2016 ALA Information Literacy Framework even more substantially than textual literacies. Data literacy as part of information literacy is important as so-called transferable skill that will greatly benefit those students that leave academia and enter the workforce. Smits and Teperek (2020) noticed in their study of Master students that data management often comes up piecemeal, for example, in the context of method studies or thesis seminars, but was not treated in a coherent manner. There is a need for systematic data management guidance also on the undergraduate and graduate or Master level.

Helsinki University is a multidisciplinary research university, largest in Finland and ranked 110 in the THE University Ranking. Helsinki University Library has had a data management team since 2009 and has been teaching data management planning and other skills for researchers since 2017. The education so far has reached researchers and administrative staff, but not bachelor and master students. Also, since the changes in the data privacy legislation namely the EU GDPR, the demand for timely data management education for all levels is genuine.

When teaching undergraduates an obvious challenge will be the sheer scale of students that need to be addressed. How to address the right group of students at the right time? Who will teach? Could data management teaching for undergraduate level be embedded in thesis seminars or will the academics be reluctant to take on new responsibilities? It is vital MA students know how to handle personal data according to GDPR requirements before they start their projects, so that they don’t just start collecting data and forget to inform the research participants correctly. Students also need to know what the special categories of personal data are and how not to cause risks to these vulnerable groups with how they handle this kind of data.

In Helsinki University Library we figured that we need more than one approach to reach the students. As starting points we are preparing a short self-study guide in simple language on data management for undergraduates and a test form for personal data – “Do I handle personal data in my thesis?” To deepen the learning more in context of the thesis seminars we concluded a pilot with a Master program together with the responsible University Lecturers. With simple exercises aimed at first just recognizing data features in publications of selected research groups the students took the first steps in learning the different dimensions of data management. Our data management team is also developing a data management introductory wizard tool with CS students. Data Support team is working together with the library Pedagogical Team responsible for Information Literacy teaching to further embed data themes into student resources.

References

  • Bauder, J. (2022). Teaching research data management. American Library Association.
  • Calzada Prado, J. & Ángel Marzal, M. (2013). Incorporating data literacy into information literacy
  • programs: Core competencies and contents. Libri, 63(2), 123–34. https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2013-0010
  • Burress, T. (2022). Data literacy practices of students conducting undergraduate research. College and Research Libraries 83(3), 434–451. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.83.3.434
  • Smits, D. A. B. & Teperek, M. (2020). Research data management for master’s students: From awareness to action. Data Science Journal, 19(1). Retrieved from https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85106864849&doi=10.5334%2fdsj-2020-030&partnerID=40&md5=387b83348a741146c3fb46eda6df251e

Maija Pauliina Paavolainen, Tuija Korhonen, Katri Larmo, Tiina Heino
University of Helsinki, Finland

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