Fun Data for Learning
Updated: Jan 7
Welcome to #BeyondTheMean! Check out this post to see what this blog is all about.
As you continue to learn new techniques, sometimes it is helpful to use someone else's data. This can remove some of the stress and pressure while you learn. Data analysis is the most fun when you have a large and diverse data set on a topic that you care about. The more data you have, the more insights you will uncover. Here are a few places that you can access large data sets that will ensure a good time.
National Center for Education Statistics
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is part of the U.S. Department of Education. They house an enormous amount of data that is freely accessible to the public. It is accessible at: https://nces.ed.gov/
Data.gov
Data.gov is a great place to find data on a wide range of topics, including healthcare, climate, energy, local governments, and even the oceans! It is accessible at: https://www.data.gov/
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
The IPEDS contains data on all of the colleges and universities. It is a good place to grab data if you want to learn more about higher education. it is accessible at: https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/
Civil Rights Data Collection
Are you interested in educational equity? Then you should check out the Civil Rights Data Collection available from the US Department of Education. It is available at: https://ocrdata.ed.gov/
ED Data Express
Want to compare schools across the country? ED Data Express houses all of the data collected by the US Department of Education on every school in the nation. It is available at: https://eddataexpress.ed.gov/
National Library of Medicine
Want to try something out of education? Check out the data repositories at the National Library of Medicine. They even have downloadable data related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is available at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/NIHbmic/nih_data_sharing_repositories.html