Bringing numeric and spatial data into the classroom 
     Promoting statistical literacy 

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          Moving from the Blackboard to the Computer:
               Using Data in a Classroom Setting
 
                          Lisa Neidert
                  Data Archive and Data Support
                    Population Studies Center
                  Institute for Social Research
                      University of Michigan

                           Ren Farley
                        Faculty Associate
                    Population Studies Center
                  Institute for Social Research
                      University of Michigan
 
                       Albert Anderson
                     Public Data Queries
                        Ann Arbor, MI

   Instructional materials are increasingly including use of 
computers, data, data manipulation, and statistical techniques, even 
when the course is not a core statistics or research methods class.  This
is because of the growing realization that information literacy and more 
specifically, statistical literacy, should be a core competency for all 
academic disciplines. 

   This paper will describe a course that introduces undergraduate 
students to census data and rudimentary data manipulation in a 
classroom setting.  It fulfills a quantitative reasoning requirement at
the University of Michigan.  
  
   The paper will include a description of the course interface 
developed for classroom teaching, an example of a typical classroom 
exercise including the substantive background reading materials, and a 
demonstration of the interactive use of data.  

   The paper will close with a description of how the classroom materials
can be incorporated into stand-alone modules that illustrate points about
data, a specific data set, a statistical concept, or a policy issue.  At
the very simplest, these modules are stable, but the ideal module is one
that provides canned text and examples and then allows the user to modify
and move beyond the canned example, i.e. a living book. The creation of
these modules involves integrating substantive knowledge, data support,
and computing expertise