Critical Literacy: Supporting Student Reflection on Social Justice in Data-Related Courses

Background

What is a reading guide?

Generally, a reading guide is to provide students with ideas on how to understand the content of the article and practice the process of reading in a way that lets them connect it to the technical topics of the class. 

Our goals

We created a reading guide template to make it easy for professors to choose a wide variety of articles for students to engage with data through real-world scenarios that emphasize human elements and social justice. The articles we chose for our reading guides have a wide range of perspectives, from individuals affected by social injustices to the roles of major corporations. Reading these articles from various perspectives sheds light on systemic issues within technical fields. 

The goal of these reading guides is to help students navigate and to critically think about the readings, in addition to easing the stress faculty may experience from getting students engaged with readings in STEM courses. 

Understanding the humanness in data is crucial, as technology has increasingly become integrated into our daily lives. By understanding the outcomes of the intersection of technology and social justice, students may be able to narrow down possible future career paths and become well-rounded, adaptable leaders with the skills to face changes and societal problems.

Reading Guide Template

About Each Section

Figure 1 shows an overview of our reading guide structure. Here is a breakdown of what each section consists of:

1. Do this first!

Students get understanding of their views concerning the topics of the article. Here, they are giving statements related to the content of the article to seeing where they stand on each of statements.

2. Before you read: getting acquainted with the text

We prompt students to do research on terms and ideas in article they may not have encountered before. 

3. A first reading: gathering information

This section is for understanding specific facts, figures, stories in the article. A question from this section might look like asking a student to come up with their own description of a figure from the article.

4. A second reading: summarizing information

This section focuses on getting students to understand the full main idea of the article. We want students to be able to summarize the article in their own words and be able to explain its content to someone who might not have any experiences or knowledge related to the article.

5. Personalizing the reading: reflecting on the context

We want students to put themselves in the shoes of those in the article. This section is about getting students to understand the impacts of their actions on others. We also bring in the statements from the "Do it first!" section to see if any of their ideas have changed since reading the article.

6. Data activism: imagining a better world

This section exposes students to data activism and encourages them to explore ideas related to it. 

Modularity

As seen in Figure 2, faculty members can mix and match the sections of the template as they see fit. We want to give faculty as much flexibility as possible with our reading guides.

Resources/Tools/Skills

Links to the articles we used

• •  L.A.’s Scoring System for Subsidized Housing Gives Black and Latino People Experiencing Homelessness Lower Priority Scores 

  • How Wisconsin Uses Race and Income to Label Students High Risk

  • A Death Sentence: Native Americans Shut Out of the Nation’s Liver Transplant System

  • Suckers List: How Allstate’s Secret Auto Insurance Algorithm Squeezes Big Spenders

  • The Scourge of Racial Bias in New York State’s Prisons

  • For Blacks Facing Parole in New York State, Signs of a Broken System

Links to sources that are likely to have similar kinds of articles

• • The Markup

  • The Marshall Project

  • The Los Angeles Times

  • The New York Times

  • ProPublica

  • The Pudding

  • The Washington Post

 Links to some of the articles we used as references for the reading guide template

• • “Promoting College Reading Completion and Comprehension with Reading Guides: Lessons Learned Regarding the Role of Form, Function, and Frequency” by Karin L. Becker, Danielle Gilbert & Paul Bezerra

  • "Using Anticipatory Reading Guides to Improve Elementary Students’ Comprehension" by Evan Ortlieb

  • "Reading to Learn: Engaging University Students in Meaningful Reading and Discussion" by Larson, Young and Leibham

  • "Enhancing Student Preparedness for Class throughCourse Preparation Assignments: Preliminary Evidence from the Classroom" by Ewell and Rodgers

Reflection

As a student who has taken algorithm classes the past few years, I have sometimes felt disconnected with my work in some classes as there aren't many discussions about the effect of technology on groups of individuals. I believe it is essential to connect humanities into data/algorithm related classes to help students understand the impact of their work. By creating a template, I hope it would help professors navigate these kinds of conversations.

When we were creating the reading guide template, it was interesting to see the thinking/creative process behind these sections and questions, understanding what the motivation is for each part. Seeing through the lens of a faculty member and trying to get these students to be engaged and reflective was an eye-opening experience.

While reading all of the articles that we used to create the reading guide drafts, it has become clear to me the importance of the impact of technical work onto society.