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Panoramic view on the North Campus © Jürgen Huhn​/​TU Dortmund
DATA LITERACY AS PART OF GENERAL EDUCATION

TU Dortmund University Signs Data Literacy Charter

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Logo of the Data Literacy Charter © Stifterverband
Stifterverband (an initiative devoted to consulting, networking, and promoting improvements in the fields of education, science, and innovation) has adopted the Data Literacy Charter. TU Dortmund University is among the first signatories. With it, the signatories are expressing a common understanding of data literacy and its significance in educational processes. The charter is in line with the Data Strategy of Germany’s national government and the Berlin Declaration on Digital Society and Value-Based Digital Government. At TU Dortmund University, the Data Competence Network (DaCoNet) has been set up in order to teach students how to handle data in a competent and expedient way. DaCoNet is supported by Stifterverband NRW.

Data literacy describes the ability to handle data in an expedient way. In a world shaped by digitalization, large volumes of data are generated every day that have to be captured, analyzed, and interpreted. The topic impacts on almost all disciplines and is also an indispensable part of everyone’s general education, so that we can, for example, correctly understand data related to share prices or to sports events. All signatories of the Data Literacy Charter are in agreement here. In future, each individual should be capable of interpreting data properly in order to make competent decisions. Are the sources reliable? Have the data already been processed or are they raw data? It takes data literacy to answer such questions.

The charter defines five main principles that reflect the major significance of data literacy as a key skill in the 21st century:

  1. Data literacy must be accessible to all.
  2. Data literacy must be taught a lifetime long in all areas of education.
  3. Data literacy must be taught as a transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary skill.
  4. Data literacy must systematically cover the entire process of the pursuit of knowledge and decision-making with data.
  5. Data literacy must include knowledge, skills, and values for a conscious and ethically sound handling of data.

As a signatory of the charter, TU Dort­mund University has undertaken to implement measures to communicate this understanding of data literacy: “Teaching students of all subjects the necessary skills for handling large volumes of data has long been one of TU Dortmund University’s objectives. Students should learn how to handle data competently – from collection and processing to evaluation and interpretation – but also acquire sound knowledge of data security and data ethics,” says Professor Manfred Bayer, President of TU Dort­mund University.

Data Competence Network at TU Dort­mund University

To teach these skills to students and doctoral researchers in all subjects at an early stage, the Data Competence Network (DaCoNet) was launched at TU Dortmund University in 2020. Headed by Professor Katja Ickstadt from the Faculty of Statistics and Professor Henrik Müller from the Institute of Journalism, the project is being funded by Stifterverband NRW for three years. In the framework of the project, participants will be offered in-person courses, opportunities for digital learning, and interdisciplinary lectures.

Further Information:

Website of Stifterverband

DaCoNet (Data Competence Network) of TU University Dortmund

 

Contact for further Information:

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