Towards data literacy in higher education

This dataset contains the survey instruments used in the research project Towards Data Literacy in Higher Education (Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, 2022). The survey instruments were informed by the frameworks and the underlying theories proposed by Calzado Prado and Marzal (2013) and Maybee and Zilinski (2015). The purpose of the surveys was to measure the perceived level of data literacy among students and lecturers within the business programmes of a university of applied sciences. The questionnaires operationalise data literacy across six core competencies—awareness, access, engagement, management, communication, and use—based on established academic frameworks.

The dataset includes the full item lists, Likert-scale response structures, and demographic questions used to collect the data. These instruments were employed to assess the current state of data literacy, identify variations across programmes and cohorts, and explore potential gaps between educational offerings and labour-market needs.

The survey tools can be reused or adapted by researchers, educators, and policymakers interested in evaluating data literacy, monitoring curriculum development, or designing interventions to strengthen data-related competencies in higher education.