The Quantitative Social Science Digital Library (QSSDL) Pathway provides a portal to materials and modules that integrate quantitative analysis with the teaching of the social sciences. QSSDL is a partnership of the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the Social Science Data Analysis Network, both at the University of Michigan, and the American Sociological Association, the American Political Science Association, and the Association of American Geographers. Quantitative analysis has long played a key role in social science research. Influential voices have been calling for ways make data analysis a staple feature in a large variety of courses in the social sciences, including introductory courses. This pathway is designed to help instructors find high quality teaching materials and datasets for student exercises and research. It is building on the rapid acceleration in the availability of data, the creation of new educational tools, and growing interest by instructors in making innovative use of digital resources for instruction. The integration of this social science pathway into the portfolio of NSDL Pathway projects adds a new resource to the existing networked infrastructure of repositories and professional associations. Experts in the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College are providing pedagogical, assessment, and evaluation services. In particular, SERC is conducting evaluations that include pre- and post-intervention assessments of faculty use of QSSDL resources on ten selected campuses, and QSSDL teaching materials are being linked to the "Pedagogy in Action" server at SERC. The QSSDL Pathway helps individuals who create resources by providing archiving and preservation services for those lacking adequate institutional support. This project also builds on ICPSR's long and successful model of sustainability, which is based on a diverse portfolio of memberships held by colleges and universities, research grants, and contracts.
The overarching goal of this project was to bring together materials that could be used in undergraduate social science courses to strengthen students’ abilities to interpret and use quantitative information. Too often students do not encounter quantitative information until they are in statistics or other research-based courses. TeachingWithData.org is a portal where faculty can find resources and ideas to reduce the challenges of bringing real data into post-secondary classes. Using real data is an excellent way for students to become more engaged in the content of a course, but significant barriers, largely in terms instructor preparation, exist that can make using data a challenge. TeachingWithData.org allows faculty to introduce and build students' quantitative reasoning abilities with readily available, user-friendly, data-driven teaching materials. Including data early and often throughout the curriculum not only allows students to practice quantitative skills such as reading tables or translating numbers into graphs or charts, but their interest in and understanding of course material can be piqued by the excitement of doing empirical work. TeachingWithData.org now contains metadata records for over 600 resources including raw data, tables and figures/graphs of data, pre-made exercises, lesson plans, pedagogical guides, and games or simulations. Almost 15,000 unique visitors have used the site (since Sept. 2010), with over 83,000 page views. The "Data in the News" feature on TwD has developed an audience of its own, spreading primarily through social media. We also surveyed over one thousand faculty about their use of digital resources and inclusion of quantitative literacy as a key learning outcome in their courses. This information allows us to better target our collection and outreach efforts because it provides a better sense of our target audience and their needs.
