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UCLA DataX Initiative report supports data-driven learning

A computer screen with numbers is pictured. (Jeremy Chen/Assistant Photo editor)

By Emily Rusting

March 7, 2023 10:30 p.m.

UCLA released a DataX Initiative report Feb. 13 that recommends new academic offerings and increased support for data-driven education and research on issues related to injustice, inequality and sustainability.

The DataX Initiative is designed to bring together students and researchers from across campus to work on data-related problems, from educational inequities to health disparities. When it was announced in September 2021, the university allocated $10 million to the initiative, which will create new courses and support academic research exploring the application of data science to societal issues.

A new series of cluster courses will hopefully begin during the 2023-2024 academic year, said Safiya Noble, a professor of African American studies and gender studies and interim director of the DataX Initiative. The courses will focus on the application of data science to issues such as racial and environmental justice, and it will allow students to explore data basics, software and hands-on research applications, according to Noble.

Students can also register for a series of DataX salons, which are informal discussions with faculty members about their current research projects that integrate data science with other disciplines, said Jacob Foster, an associate professor of sociology and co-author of the report. DataX education offerings will be designed to support students, especially undergraduates, with all levels of data experience, Noble added.

DataX is intended to provide students with the data literacy and critical thinking skills that are often useful in the job market and academia, said Mark Green, a distinguished research professor of mathematics and co-author of the report.

“There are a lot of new niches where having a deep disciplinary knowledge in social science and having some data fluency becomes a very powerful combination,” Green added.

Understanding data is also generally crucial in today’s increasingly data-driven world, said Robert Wakimoto, vice chancellor for research and creative activities.

The DataX Initiative will focus broadly on fundamental data science, innovative applications, and the ethical and policy implications of using data in the real world, Foster said.

Foster also said DataX will allow the university to take advantage of its excellence in different departments to provide a 21st-century education to students. The proposed DataX Institute would work with other departments to hire interdisciplinary faculty, build a research support network, and develop new majors, minors and data literacy certifications, according to the report.

Creating new research collaborations between faculty is a major priority of the initiative, Green said. The DataX Institute plans to hire rotating groups of faculty fellows from departments across campus to bring more perspectives to the initiative, according to the report.

The report also recommended a focus on including a diverse set of students and faculty in DataX. This includes a specific focus on women and people of color, who are not typically encouraged to pursue data-related fields, Noble said.

“Racial discrimination or gender bias becomes evident in a lot of data science and data-intensive projects in the world,” Noble added. “My hope is that we will have courses that elevate those kinds of conversations so that everyone feels they can get in on solving these problems.”

Noble said she hopes DataX will equip students with the data literacy tools to address the issues she believes they care about deeply, such as racial inequity, the role of social media in democracy, and climate justice.

“If we are going to continue to be the No. 1 public research university in the United States, we have to make space for people to collaborate on big problems,” Noble said. “I think DataX is one pathway for UCLA to do that.”

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Emily Rusting
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