[IS/MDIA 590] Community Data - S2019

Syllabus

Requirements:

We’ll be taking an engaged approach to interrogating Community Data, by developing resources for civic partnerships around interdisciplinary data practice, grounded collaborative design, and mixed methods in shared data analysis and literacy over the course of the semester.

During the course of the semester, our Weekly Assignments will entail varied forms of qualitative data collection, including in-community participant observation exercises, interviews with civic stakeholders and local City of Urbana division spokespeople, and brief journal and news article surveys. We’ll share and discuss findings from such exercises in class on a weekly basis. We’ll leverage analysis from such collection practices for the design of a Survey for City of Urbana representatives and workers on data practices related to quality of life in programs; and for City of Urbana residents (concentrating primarily in the Crystal Park neighborhood of Urbana) on Urbana neighborhood services and quality of life.

During the semester, we will also make use of quantitative data resources, including the City of Urbana’s and OpenGov data portals, and collection and analysis tools including Qualtrics, Excel, and Tableau. No prior experience with any of these data resources will be necessary. We will be scheduling workshops during the course of the semester to introduce the class to such tools. And we will find an hour during normal campus office hours (M-F, 9-5) to host such workshops.

Semester Paper: A 12-15-page long “white” paper will also be due at the end of the semester that leverages data on the theme you’ve collected over the course of the semester, that will define and frame a key “problem” in urban/community data, and that highlights your insights/analyses and creative communication strategies. This will leverage and apply readings and data resource and build on your past exercises from class, and imagine city officials, policy makers or community residents as a primary audience. As part of your final paper, you’ll include analysis drawing from your:NO NEED TO DO: a 3-page annotated version of the Survey Questions for the 2 Survey Sets you designed – with notes on question development and data analysis.

Data Sharing Module/Workshop Exercise: To present your final project findings, you’ll also get to present and run a sample class workshop or module that models/designs a Data Sharing and Analysis activity for city workers (or residents). Like your paper, it will leverage the data you’ve collected over the course of the semester, and highlighting your insights/analyses and creative communication strategies. We will share our modules with our final projects in class during the final weeks of the semester. Each presenter will be allotted 20 min. for their activity. (Please let me know as soon as you can if you think you might like more time for this.) During the middle of the semester, I will meet with you one on one to discuss proposals and planning.

Weekly Writing Exercises:  Weekly readings and writing assignments will be posted to our class site. A Weekly writing assignments should also be posted to your own Scalar site, and the link sent to me by 9A the day of class/Wednesday. We’ll start our own Scalar sites on the first day of class.

These will entail reading reactions that briefly (in about 1 page, single space) identify key terms, arguments, themes or methods that would be useful for translations across fields/sectors/or disciplines, and are worthy of further discussion. They should also articulate Two Key Questions that extend insights and tensions that emerge from the texts. No incompletes/makeups are assigned. As mentioned above, our Weekly Assignments will also entail varied forms of qualitative data collection and data write ups, including in-community participant observation exercises, interviews and notes on conversations with civic stakeholders and local City of Urbana division spokespeople, and brief journal and news article surveys. (Keep in mind: we meet in-class meets only 2 hours per week; the extra hour is reserved for data gathering/collection in the city, or the Workshop time as designated.) Data write ups can make connections to current events, links to other archives, digital manifestations, and other blog-friendly uses of multi-media. Write ups should aim to extend insights, questions, or tensions in data gathered (when relevant), and place them in conversation with readings, or other information resources assigned.

Once during the semester, you’ll kick off discussion with your Weekly Readings Reaction, and will bring in at least 1 related visual to help lead/kickoff discussion. Feel free to be as creative as you like here, and to draw in video, visualized data, or sound-based material. Feel free to prep a few slides. Finally, as a practice of co-design, for one date during the semester, you’ll be able to add 2 additional articles to our reading list.

Participation: Participation and sharing findings/observations from resources collected for the class will be imperative. We’ll also be co-creating some resources, and community maps, including ones that will involve spaces/places we individually frequent. If there are any sensitive data points/details you need me to be aware of, please let me know as soon as possible.