Teaching students to connect the dots between data analysis and storytelling to help solve the world’s biggest problems
Incorporating the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into his course is one way Dr Poon Leung, School of Risk and Actuarial Studies, shows students how their degree can lead to a big impact.
But it’s the way you present your data that makes a difference.
“It’s easy to collect some data, but can you convince anyone with just facts and figures?”
Dr Leung poses this question on the first day of his course, offered by UNSW Business School’s School of Risk and Actuarial Studies. And it causes the students to stop and think.
“Most of my students are either studying actuarial or business analytics degrees. These are very technical backgrounds. We know these students are very good with the numbers side, the statistics. But what we’ve found when they enter the workforce is that communicating to non-technical stakeholders can be quite challenging,” Dr Leung says.
That’s why the Business School made this course compulsory for all Actuarial Studies undergraduate students. While it’s not an official requirement for degree accreditation, the university believes it’s a crucial skill to make an impact as a professional in the real-world post-graduation.
“If you’re talking to a senior stakeholder or manager, someone in government, they’re usually not as interested in the data as you are, or they don’t have the time. They want your key insights, a summary of why this data is worth talking about. That’s data storytelling, so we’re giving students the tools to fill that gap and connect the dots.”
Understanding data storytelling can set students apart when entering the job market, by harnessing different tools to help them apply their degree-learned skills. Being able to communicate the things that stakeholders care about means that their data can make a difference, wherever their career takes them.
Dr Leung incorporates the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into his course as a tangible way for students to understand how data can be used to make an impact. It also allows them to tell a good story.
“A common mistake that students or early grads make when presenting their data is just saying, ‘Here’s all the data I have, here’s the model I used’ etc. They get lost in the weeds, and your audience will too. Number one in data storytelling is how you set the scene.”
Dr Leung says it’s about repositioning your focus on the problem and using the data to either prove or support a point and then suggest a way to solve it.
“In the context of SDG-type problems, we can look at gender equality as an example. If you said gender equality is really important, most people are on board. But what's the actual problem here and how severe is it? How many people are affected? To what extent are they affected? That's where the data comes in, that’s when people can empathise or feel something about it. Connect the data with the problem.”
At the beginning of the course, Dr Leung asks students to pick an SDG and simply explain why it interests them. From there, they have to develop a presentation around that SDG, to share at the end of the 10-week course.
“An international student from Iran chose the SDG about clean water. He shared a touching story about how the river that used to run through his hometown and supply clean drinking water, is now dry. He said that the grass at his previous university hadn’t been green for about 10 years. It really added that human element, a powerful emotional pull to the data he was providing.”
From choosing their preferred SDG, Dr Leung then guides students in the art of effective data storytelling, so they’re prepared for their final presentation. But he makes it clear to students that this isn’t a research project.
“We’re not looking for someone to just tell us all about gender equality, as interesting as the data may be. As part of their project, they also have to give a recommendation on how to tackle the problem, using the data they’ve found to validate that recommendation.”
And because students may feel overwhelmed by tackling these huge problems, he sets parameters that encourage them to think about what is really achievable.
“I limit them to three minutes. You can’t change the world in three minutes. So while the SDG is a big problem, I want them to find the critical need that they could solve right away and focus on that. Tell us about that. There’s analytical thinking in that, but it’s also a very practical skill to have.”
Dr Leung shared his approach with the rest of the Business School faculty in the recent UNSW BUS SDG Teaching Showcase about the successful integration of sustainability and the UN’s SDGs into business education.
His approach resonated with fellow staff, and he shared the peer-voted People’s Choice Award with colleagues Associate Professor Tracy Wilcox, School of Management and Governance.
See also: Developing HR students into agents of positive change
See also: Transforming Business Research & Education. Charting a Sustainable Course
By following their own interests, students are intrinsically motivated to discover why the SDGs are important. Dr Leung says this could be a more authentic and often effective way for students to learn about the world’s most pressing problems and how they can be a part of the solution in the lead-up to the global UN’s 2030 and 2050 deadlines for these goals to be achieved.
This aligns with the Business School and UNSW’s commitment to embracing diversity of thought, integrity and innovation, in its quest toward progress for all.
“As I teach this course, students are shifting their thinking away from performing just to get the marks. They see a lot of potential in the SDGs and tap into those intrinsic motivators of making a difference, which is a driver for many people.”
Letting student interests lead strikes a good balance in a degree that can be quite rigid and prescriptive. This can help students expand their view of what their future career could look like, and the positive impact they could potentially have on the world.
“By the end of the term, there’s an explicit reflection element that asks them what impact they want their future career to have and the problems they want to solve. As opposed to, what job title do you want to have? Especially for the younger undergraduate students, that really connects with a lot of them.”
