In the spotlight - Teaching with international data

Article dated: 22 September 2011

ESDS provides a huge amount of support for the secondary use of data across the research, teaching and learning communities. Here we highlight the work undertaken by ESDS to support the international data community. With the ESRC’s recently updated strategic priorities ESDS is committed to facilitating increased and more effective use of data, in line with ESRC vision, and in increasing analytic skills in both quantitative and qualitative methods, enabling and furthering social science investigations. Visit our new teaching zone

This spotlight focuses on the use of our macro economic international datasets in teaching. ESDS has developed a suite of teaching materials to support this effort, from basic printable dataset user guides which tell a student what topical, geographical and temporal information is contained in a dataset, to comprehensive online teaching materials which include multiple linear regression, logistic regression and multi-level modeling techniques as well as introductory data analysis skills.

Engaging with teachers

The international data team carries out many outreach activities, delivering introductory courses and workshops at institutions across the UK. Frequently, these courses have become integrated into recurring modules within social science courses and an ESDS staff member returns by invitation to the institution each time the module runs to lead a class in a lecture or workshop.

One of the most important aspects of these events is the opportunity to talk to lecturers who are actively using international data and ask them what tools would be helpful for them in their teaching. As a result of these visits and other user engagement activities, the team has good relationships within the international data teaching community and can utilize this knowledge to develop useful and necessary tools.

Online teaching resources

Teaching materials

One such resource developed by subject specialists and released in 2008 is the Countries and Citizens: Linking International Macro and Micro Data e-learning materials. As an interactive training resource with online tutorials, activities, study guides and videos it is designed to show how to combine socio-economic data from country-level aggregate databanks (macro data) with individual-level survey datasets (micro data) and is particularly useful for Post Graduates and Researchers.

Specifically aimed at early career lecturers, the Teaching Tools is the most recently developed teaching resource. Developed as a result of the The Real World: Real Data: Real Stories project, it includes a 'Getting started' section with an e-tutorial on registering, a guide to registering and FAQs, a section which includes sample course plans, step by step guides and examples of student work and a 'Hear from real lecturers' section with video footage of lecturers talking about why it's so important to use 'real' data in teaching and their experience of using ESDS macro data in their Economics courses. The team have been awarded an e-learning commendation by the Higher Education Academy's Economics Network for these Teaching Tools as it was felt by the judging panel that they displayed all the qualities of commitment, enthusiasm, innovation and evident success that represent excellent teaching materials.

Teaching Case Studies

As well as developing teaching materials, ESDS is keen to showcase best practice in quantitative research and teaching methods using international data and to do so produces case studies of international data use – both in research and teaching. The most recent of these Teaching Economics at Nottingham Trent University describes how the author, a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), uses data from the ESDS international protfolio in her taught courses. As well as highlighting the diverse use of international data in research and teaching, it allows ESDS users to showcase their work and enables others in the international data community to see interesting examples of current research.

Guides

Many of the lecturers using international data in introductory courses will ask their students to carry out simple statistical analyses and will provide some supporting documentation to help them – so for example, if using the IMF Direction of Trade Statistics they may provide a link to the accompanying guide, Guide to IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS) , or they may direct them to the Eurostat New Cronos software guide which is a step-by-step guide to ‘Visualising and downloading air pollutant figures for a number of Eurostat member countries from 1990 to present day’. Also popular with lecturers using the data are thematically organised materials and number of short ESDS International thematic guides have been developed on Educational Outcomes, Financial Monetary Statistics, CO2 Emissions, and Migration. In addition, ESDS hosts other thematic guides and a suite of web pages on themes such as Health and health behaviour, Crime and social control, Housing and the local environment.

ESDS is always keen to improve its services and if you have any suggestions for resources you would find useful as a lecturer using data in your teaching (all types and methods) we would be delighted to hear from you. Contact publicity@esds.ac.uk