Additional Material
Purpose
Use this page for optional additions when you have extra time, a more advanced cohort, or a strong local data example to work with.
The learner Additional Material provides a complete fictional dataset, source notes, four five-minute tasks, and worked answers. Start there when you need a prepared example or access fallback. The options below extend that practice; they are not extra compulsory sessions.
| Lesson | Prepared resource | Useful output |
|---|---|---|
| Collecting the Right Data | Learner Task 1 or the source cards in Extra Exercises | A collection question, population, variable list, and source limitation |
| Organising and Exploring Data | Learner Task 2 and the practice CSV | A working copy and justified change log |
| Making Sense of Data | Learner Task 3 and the chart guidance | A checked summary and an accurate caption |
| Insight to Impact | Learner Task 4 | Separate evidence, interpretation, action, and evaluation statements |
Optional Extensions
Data Source Comparison
- Compare institutional data, survey data, open data, and manually collected data for the same question.
- Ask learners to identify what each source can and cannot justify.
Data Cleaning Demonstration
- Show a before-and-after spreadsheet with inconsistent labels, missing values, and duplicated records.
- Ask learners which transformations should be documented.
- Use the fictional request source notes to justify each change. Compare summaries with and without the valid 50-minute response to show why removing an unusual value needs evidence.
Visualisation Critique
- Use a gallery of charts with truncated axes, overloaded colour, missing labels, or weak context.
- Ask learners to rewrite the chart title as a claim and then test whether the chart supports it.
- Provide the underlying values, units, and source context alongside the chart. Ask for a text description that communicates the evidence without relying on colour.
Insight Communication
- Give learners one finding and three audiences.
- Ask them to adapt the emphasis without changing the evidence.
- Compare messages for a researcher, service owner, and service user. Retain the same count, period, missingness, and uncertainty in all three.
External Teaching Resources
The learner resource page links to verified Data Carpentry spreadsheet lessons, NIST exploratory analysis guidance, and Government Analysis Function chart guidance. Select a specific example for the cohort and check its reuse conditions before reproducing external materials.