Below, we've gathered resources and scholarly articles related to exploring data worlds with young people—particularly middle and high school age youth.

In our Resources for Programs and Activities section, you'll find a guide that provides background information on key data literacy concepts and some ideas for fun and engaging data literacy programs with young people. This resource guide is meant to be used as an idea-generator—a source of inspiration for teens, librarians, and others in the after-school arena—to support the design of data literacy programs customized to serve youth in their communities. Each topic in the document may also be downloaded as a stand-alone file. We've also created an activity guide, with step-by-step instructions for six data literacy activities.

We've gathered research produced for this NSF grant in the Publications from the Project section. 

Under Other Research on Data Literacy for Youth, you'll find a brief bibliography of academic research related to data literacy. Most of the papers focus on developing young people's data literacy, though we have also included several articles about data literacy more generally.

Resources for programs and activities

Youth Data Literacy: Resources for Programs and Activities
This document provides background information on key data literacy concepts and ideas for fun and engaging data literacy programs with young people.

• Algorithms & Artificial Intelligence

• Algorithms, Data, and Personalization

• Data Dossier

• Data Privacy

• Data Rights

• Data Rights Activism

• Design Resources

• Educational Analytics

• Metadata

• Protecting Your Data

• Surveillance

• Dictionary of Data Terms

• Data Life Cycle and Terms

Publications from the Project

Bowler, L., Lopatovska, I., & Rosin, M.S. (2024), Teen-adult interactions during the co-design of data literacy activities for the public library: insights from a natural language processing analysis of linguistic patterns, Information and Learning Sciences, Vol. 125 No. 3/4, pp. 252-269. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-03-2024-266 

The study conceives of co-design as a learning space for teens. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC-22), a natural language processing (NLP) software tool, was used to examine the linguistic measures of Analytic Thinking, Clout, Authenticity, and Emotional Tone using transcriptions of recorded Data Labs with teens and adults. It adds to the understanding of assessment/measurement tools and methods for designing data literacy education, stimulating further research and discussion on the ways to empower youth to engage more actively in informal learning about data.

Bowler, L., Rosin, M., Lopatovska, I., & Vroom, L. (2022). Methods of Engaging Teens in Conversations about Personal Digital Data: Public Library Context. In, Filipiak, D. & Kalir, J. H. (Eds.). (2022). Proceedings of the 2022 Connected Learning Summit. Pittsburgh, PA: ETC Press. July 28-29, 2022. pp. 9-17. https://press.etc.cmu.edu/proceedings/proceedings-2022-connected-learning-summit 

This paper reports on research that asks, how might youth data literacy be supported through informal, after-school activities at the library? The goal of the project is to build a youth-oriented model of data literacy that incorporates social-awareness, critical approaches, and “goodness of fit” into informal STEM learning about data. To this end, the project has been working with teen co-designers to build and test a range of data literacy activities that, according to teens, would be both meaningful, fun, and worth their time in a voluntary, drop-in setting like the library. In this paper, we present a preliminary inventory of the data literacy activities created and tested alongside two teams of teen co-designers in 14 Data Labs during Spring and Fall 2021, to be used as a tool to support future designers of data literacy activities at the library. 

Bowler, L., Rosin, M., Lopatovska, I., & Vroom, L. (2022). Co-designing data labs at the public library: Data literacy with, for, and by teens. iConference 2022: Information for a Better World: Shaping the Global Future, February 28 - March 4, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113734  

Presents research investigating youth data literacy at the public library. The Data Literacy with, for, and by Youth project is framed by principles of participatory design, and asks, how might an informal STEM learning environment such as the public library, support the development of the skills, knowledge, and dispositions that young people need for them to take charge of their data lives, from data creation to data use – to be, in short, data literate. The problem of how to approach something as complex as data literacy in the voluntary drop-in setting of informal, after-school sites of learning - the public library being one such place - guides this study. The aim of the project is to design, build, test, and evolve theory and practice around informal data literacy education alongside youth, with the goal of building a holistic, humanistic, and youth-oriented model of data literacy which incorporates social-awareness, critical approaches, and “goodness of fit” into STEM learning about data.

Bowler, L., Wang, K., Lopatovska, I., & Rosin, M. (2021). The meaning of "participation" in co-design with children and youth: Relationships, roles, and interactions. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 58(1), 13-24. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.432

The paper examines the concept of participation in co-design practices with children and youth. Rooted in Participatory Design and Participatory Action Research frameworks, the paper draws from multi-disciplinary literature to survey existing definitions of the relationships, roles, and types of human interactions in participatory co-design. The paper advocates for the active role of children and youth in the co-design process and presents models of youth participation. The paper highlights the importance of understanding and clearly communicating various degrees of participation, with the ultimate goal of empowering youth and involving them in brainstorming, planning, decision-making, and interpretation stages of the design process. We introduce the concept of conscious co-design and the need to reflect on the design process at a meta level.

Other Research on Data Literacy for Youth

Bowler, L., & Shaw , C. (2024). Trends in data literacy, 2018-2023: a review of the literature. Information Research an International Electronic Journal, 29(2), 198–205. https://doi.org/10.47989/ir292822

A scoping review of the English-language research literature on data literacy from 2018 to mid-2023. The paper contributes to our understanding of how data and data literacy are currently interpreted in the research literature, as well as the types of topics, skills, and data practices explored. It reveals developing trajectories and proposes future steps for building out the field of data literacy.

Acker, A., Bowler, L. & Pangrazio, L. (2024). Guest Editorial: Special Issue – Perspectives on Data Literacies. Information and Learning Sciences, Vol.125 No. 3/4 & 5/6, pp.157-162. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-03-2024-266 

For this Special Double Issue, the Editors invited papers exploring current perspectives in learning and information research and data literacies education, addressing the growing need for a data literate society.  See Information and Learning Sciences, 2024, Vol. 125, Nos. 3/4 and 5/6, for twelve articles on data literacies. 

Acker, A. & Bowler, L. (2017). What is your data silhouette? Raising teen awareness of their data traces in social media. #SMSociety17: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Social Media & Society, 1-5. Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3097286.3097312
This paper reports on a series of data literacy workshops for young people ages 11-17, held in three Pittsburgh-area public libraries. The workshops, called Data Silhouettes, served two purposes: 1) as a mechanism for examining young peoples' understandings of their data worlds; and 2) to pilot test a library-based learning experience designed to reveal the relationship between social media behavior and the data traces left behind.

Acker, A., & Bowler, L. (2018).  Youth data literacy: Teen perspectives on data created with social media and mobile devices. Proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/50130
This paper examines how American teens conceptualize the term "data" in the context of social and mobile media like Instagram and Snapchat, text messaging, and cell phone video. Based on interview and ethnographic data from interviews with young people ages 11-18, the authors present findings about how youth learn and acquire knowledge about the interactive and social processes of the data life cycle in public spaces and online platforms, particularly learning about data awareness through sharing, aging, and owning mobile computing devices.

Bowler, L., Acker, A., & Chi, Y. (2017). 'It lives all around us': aspects of data literacy in teen's lives, Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 54(1), 27–35. http://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2017.14505401004
The authors present findings from interviews with young people ages 11 to 18, examining their perceptions and general knowledge of data in their lives. Results suggest that the teens in this study had varying interpretations of the nature of data and a broad understanding of the life cycle of data, but most found it difficult to connect with data at a concrete and personal level.

Bowler, L., Acker, A., & Chi, Y. (2019). Perspectives on youth data literacy at the public library: Teen services staff speak out. The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults, 10(2). http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2019/07/perspectives-on-youth-data-literacy-at-the-public-library-teen-services-staff-speak-out/
This paper reports on five themes that emerged from interview data with library staff working with adolescents, observational fieldwork, and synthesis from previous research. The authors develop a model of youth data literacy based on the data life cycle, and argue for a holistic and humanistic approach to data in public library programming for youth that is aligned with broad, crosscutting themes such as data infrastructures, data rights, and data subjectivity.

Bowler, L., & Acker, A. (2019). Research instruments for Exploring Data Worlds. Harvard Dataverse. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/OUXMPU
The Exploring Data Worlds at the Public Library project focused on the state of data literacy in the public library and specifically how libraries help teens, as data subjects, gain an understanding of the processes involved in data creation, collection, and aggregation with networked devices, platforms, and information services. The researchers have made their research instruments available, including interview protocols and step-by-step guides for running data activity workshops with youth. For sample data activity workshops developed for this project, visit Harvard Dataverse, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/ATEVBQ

Bowler, L., Aronofsky, M., Milliken, G., & Acker, A. (2020). Teen engagements with data in an after-school data literacy programme at the public library. In Proceedings of ISIC, the Information Behaviour Conference, Pretoria, South Africa, 28-1 October, 2020. Information Research, 25(4), paper isic2015. Retrieved from http://InformationR.net/ir/25-4/isic2020/isic2015.html (Archived by the Internet Archive at https://bit.ly/3a6DBwv) https://doi.org/10.47989/irisic2015  

The study presents a preliminary model of teen engagement with data in the context of data literacy activities at the public library. The model contributes to knowledge in the area of human data interaction, specifically as relates to the affective domain, to data literacy, and in the context of informal learning at the public library.

Chi, Y., Jeng, W., Acker A., & Bowler L. (2018) Affective, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of teen perspectives on personal data in social media: A model of youth data literacy. In G. Chowdhury, K. McLeod, V. Gillet, & P. Willett (Eds.), Transforming digital worlds: 13th International Conference, iConference 2018, Sheffield, UK, March 25-28, 2018, Proceedings (pp. 442-452). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78105-1_49
This study explores the interplay between teens' Affective states (A), Behavioral states (B), and Cognitive states (C) in relation to the personal data they generate in social media, applying the "ABC model" from the social psychology domain. Findings suggest that: 1) Young people are positive about their data skills, while feeling negative or insecure about data privacy issues; and 2) young people with negative affective states related to data privacy are more likely to make an effort to secure their social media accounts and profiles. Given the results, the authors suggest that librarians, educators, and software developers apply a range of strategies in reaction to teens' different ABC states to the design of data literacy programs, services, and software applications.

Davis, K., & James, C. (2013). Tweens' conceptions of privacy online: Implications for educators. Learning, Media and Technology, 38(1), 4–25. http://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2012.658404
Drawing on interviews with middle school students, this paper explores how youth in this age group think about and manage privacy issues online, as well as the messages they report hearing from educators about online privacy. Findings suggest that most tweens value privacy, and use a variety of strategies to protect their privacy online.

Deahl, E. (2014). Better the data you know: Developing youth data literacy in schools and informal learning environments. [Master's thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology]. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/89958
This paper analyzes two data literacy initiatives that enable youth to use data to investigate and address real-world issues: one in an informal learning environment and the other in a public school. The author situates the concept of data literacy within the landscape of new media literacies, and proposes three design principles to guide researchers, educators, and practitioners in shaping future data literacy initiatives.

Gebre, E. (2018). Young adults' understanding and use of data: Insights for fostering secondary school students' data literacy. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 18(4), 330–341. http://doi.org/10.1007/s42330-018-0034-z
This study examines how secondary school students understand data and its relevance in everyday life. Results show that students' understanding of data is limited to contexts of experiment and survey, utility and usage information, and numerical charts and graphs. However, students use a broad range of data in their authentic projects, revealing the importance of developing students' broader awareness of the nature of data in everyday life.

Markham, A. N. (2019). Taking data literacy to the streets: Critical pedagogy in the public sphere. Qualitative Inquiry, 26(2), 227-237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800419859024
This article describes an ongoing series of public arts-based experiments that build critical curiosity and develop data literacy via self-reflexive public interventions. The experiments help people critically analyze their own social lives and well-being in cultural environments of growing datafication and automated (AI-driven) decision-making. 

Pangrazio, L., & Sefton-Green, J. (2020). The social utility of 'data literacy.' Learning, Media and Technology, 25(2), 208-220. http://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2020.1707223
This article examines the social utility of the concept of data literacy, considering the benefit of theorizing digital data as a 'text' and reviewing current educational models of data literacy, categorized in this paper as formal, personal, and folk pedagogies of data. The researchers conclude that while the analogy between print and data has many inconsistencies, the term "data literacy" does have rhetorical benefits. However, to become a meaningful strategy data literacy requires both a more complete theorization and complex practical development.