AAA Spark Meeting of the Regions

Spark Your Students' Interest in Data Analysis

• In Event: Spark Your Students’ Interest in Data Analytics

Abstract

This proposal is for a mini-workshop presentation. Participants will learn about the 700-plus, free data sets available for educational use through the not-for-profit, educational website www.data-z.org. The site is intended to provide information for students, citizens, the press, legislators and staff, think tanks and financial analysts to better understand their state governments’ financial and economic condition. The site contains state financial data and external demographic and economic data, along with tools ranging from graphs to regression. Site users can select relevant data and perform their own analysis, enabling them to make informed decisions about alternatives to address state fiscal issues.

The workshop will lead participants through the process of selecting data sets, demonstrate the charting functions within the site and provide ideas on how to guide students through a written analysis of their charted findings. This is an excellent tool that allows students to pursue data comparisons in topics that interest them, thus encouraging them to further their exploration of data analytics.

Author

• Christine Kuglin, University of Denver