Journal of Information Systems Education (JISE)

Volume 35

Volume 35, Issue 3, Pages 249-260

Summer 2024


Teaching Tip
Teaching About Ambiguity in Analytics: A Student-Centered Semester-Long Project to Raise Awareness of Ambiguity by Predicting Student Exam Performance


Earl H. McKinney Jr.
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43402, USA

Simon Ginzinger
Fachhochschule Salzburg
Salzburg, Austria

Abstract: The growing use of analytics has increased the demand for more highly data literate graduates. Awareness of ambiguity in data has been suggested as a new data literacy skill. Here, we describe a student-centered semester-long project that can be used to teach this skill in an introductory analytics or database course. The project requires students to anticipate and collect survey data about themselves and their fellow students that can be used to predict student exam performance later in the course. We summarize relevant prior research on ambiguity, describe the project in which ambiguity is explained and applied, present a preliminary analysis of the lesson’s impact on student awareness of ambiguity, and discuss implications and future research.

Keywords: Data literacy, Data cleansing, Analytics, Teaching tip, Learner-centered education

Download This Article: JISE2024v35n3pp249-260.pdf


Recommended Citation: McKinney, E. H., Jr., & Ginzinger, S. (2024). Teaching Tip: Teaching About Ambiguity in Analytics: A Student-Centered Semester-Long Project to Raise Awareness of Ambiguity by Predicting Student Exam Performance. Journal of Information Systems Education, 35(3), 249-260. https://doi.org/10.62273/WQJY6047