Asynchronous Pre-Recorded Lightning Talks and Viewing Discussions 2024
Using Publicly Available Census Data to Create Engaging Activities and Assignments
Program Type
Lightning talks
Start Date and Time
13-5-2024 8:00 AM
Program Description
Many sources of data that can be used for classroom activities and assignments, such as Social Explorer, come at a cost to the students and/or the institution. Publicly available data from websites like the U.S. Census website is a rich source of data that is easy to access and can be used at no cost to students or the institution. Using this data source, you can search for any data on the U.S. population you are interested in, such as “poverty in Ohio” and it will provide you with tables of data on this topic. There are also location profiles that allow students to easily compare cities, counties, and states of your choice. It is relatively quick to teach students how to use this website, and there are a plethora of activities and assignments you can create where students can explore this data. This may range from in-class activities to major papers and presentations. This will allow them to apply concepts from social science classes to real world data. I find that this enhances their understanding of the material, and also helps them to understand their local context better. Students also tend to be much more engaged and enthusiastic when doing activities involving data. In this presentation I will discuss how to use and access the Census website, provide examples of original activities and assignments I have used in the classroom and discuss other sources of publicly available data for many disciplines.
Using Publicly Available Census Data to Create Engaging Activities and Assignments
Many sources of data that can be used for classroom activities and assignments, such as Social Explorer, come at a cost to the students and/or the institution. Publicly available data from websites like the U.S. Census website is a rich source of data that is easy to access and can be used at no cost to students or the institution. Using this data source, you can search for any data on the U.S. population you are interested in, such as “poverty in Ohio” and it will provide you with tables of data on this topic. There are also location profiles that allow students to easily compare cities, counties, and states of your choice. It is relatively quick to teach students how to use this website, and there are a plethora of activities and assignments you can create where students can explore this data. This may range from in-class activities to major papers and presentations. This will allow them to apply concepts from social science classes to real world data. I find that this enhances their understanding of the material, and also helps them to understand their local context better. Students also tend to be much more engaged and enthusiastic when doing activities involving data. In this presentation I will discuss how to use and access the Census website, provide examples of original activities and assignments I have used in the classroom and discuss other sources of publicly available data for many disciplines.
Comments
From Monday, May 13, 2024 through Thursday, May 16, 2024 there were asynchronous lightning talk viewings and discussions on Discord for OpenCon registrants. This pre-recorded lightning talk is now available for viewing below.