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# Data Peer Consulting

## Overview

Data Peer Consulting is a program that supports data science work across
campus. The Data Peer Consultants offer meetings with students,
post-docs, visiting scholars, and faculty regarding any questions about
a data science project. Currently, they primarily serve undergraduate
students. There is also a smaller population of Master's-level and Ph.D.
students using their service. They also assist students from
undergraduate and graduate-level courses that include a DS Module.

Data Peer Consulting is a program available to the campus population
throughout the academic year with an online calendar that displays both
the scheduled drop-in times and the peer consultant, along with the
designated location on the third floor of the undergraduate library or
the online meeting Zoom Link. This project began in Fall 2017 as a
collaboration between the [[Center for Connected Learning]
(the learning floor of spaces in the student library to support varying
sensory needs and forms of hands-on
learning)](http://stories.lib.berkeley.edu/ccl/),
[[D-Lab]](http://dlab.berkeley.edu/), and the Division of
Computing, Data Science, and Society. Currently, a total of sixteen
students are involved in the program. Two of these students serve as
*Data Peer Consulting Leads* who oversee student meetings and
communication. The team lead directly connects with both the program
analyst for the UC Berkeley Data Science Undergraduate Studies and the
program coordinator as they supervise their peers. All consultants work
three hours a week in pairs.

The physical Data Peer Counseling station is set up in the library
corner as a table with two individuals within a roped-off area that is
perpendicular to the Data Science Peer Advising table. They have clear
signage and laptops with them. This resource offers face-to-face
meetings between 11am to 4pm Monday through Friday during the academic
year. Students can also contact them through their program email to ask
about scheduling other appointment times. A consultation typically lasts
from fifteen to thirty minutes. Hour-long consultation may occur but are
not typical.

## Target Audience

Because the Data Peer Consulting is physically located in a public
library space, it can reach the broader campus community of students.
The sixteen data peers are undergraduate students that list their
coursework online so that other undergraduate students can best match
their needs to the data peer. Two Data Peers commented that their
primary audience is students who are not majoring in data science. The
Data Peer Consulting program aims to support students from a wide range
of domains who have data science questions.

## Goals

Overall, the primary goal of Data Peers is to support students' data
science work across campus. Data Peers is a drop-in support network for
undergraduate, graduate, and faculty using data sciences in their
research. This program allows for further assistance in data science for
students from diverse domains who may be using data science in their
coursework but do not yet understand the methodological framework.

This program offers a pathway to leadership in data science
consultation. Students begin with specific coursework, then have the
opportunity to work closely with the campus community. Students have
hands-on experience that can build students' resumes, offer course
credit, and then a paid position through increased leadership.

## Pedagogical and Curricular Strategies

The conceptual framework for this program includes:

-   Near Peer Learning

-   Self-directed learning

-   Crossover learning (the library as an informal space),

-   Distributed Learning Environments (practice across time and physical
     areas, see Roediger III & Pyc, 2012)

As part of their training, the Data Peer student consultants all enroll
in a pedagogical course, DATA-198 (a curriculum developed from combining
multiple student-led DeCal courses that the students offered
simultaneously covering similar material), that the *DS Modules Program
Coordinator* teaches. The students are instructed broadly on education
including the importance of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and a specific
session on critical education. Students gain hands-on work experience in
the consultations.

There are two components to this course: the workshop and the
application. Workshops aim to be thought-provoking and relevant.
Students assess the value of workshop content afterward to improve
future iterations. It is planned to be 7 to 8 weeks of curriculum. The
course has a standard pedagogy and focuses on learning outcomes. The
work is data science-specific including tips and tricks for Jupyter
Notebooks, recommended Python libraries, and content on ethics.
Discussions include challenges and opportunities in having open-ended
conversations about data and how students can respond to them during
consultations.

The program uses a Slack Channel to communicate about common questions
when they need assistance from other Data Peers. The students
participate as part of the course the first year and receive pay for
subsequent semesters.

## Key Diversity and Inclusion Practices and Strategies

As part of the DATA-198 course, students learn about stereotype threat,
imposter syndrome, and tone of setting their learning environment. Many
students express their desire to become involved because they want to
join the existing community space of the Division of Computing, Data
Science, and Society.

## Cyber Resources

Students collect records regarding consultations as people drop-in. The
service user fills out a form online. Consultees enter their names,
department, the time, the kind of question they need assistance with,
and other similar consultation demographics.

## Links to Key Documents

-   [[Data Peer
     Consulting]](https://data.berkeley.edu/academics/resources/peer-consulting)
     UC Berkeley webpage

-   [[Data Peer Consulting Office of Research & Scholarship Information
     webpage]](https://research.berkeley.edu/data-peer-consulting)

-   [[Research IT Information
     Page]](https://research-it.berkeley.edu/data-peer-consulting-services)

-   [[Syllabus for DATA-198: Instructional Support
     Seminar]](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OylJ3TPiqq_u6F5jmQdeNlwEuxsZDb66NQeadEJNilI/edit)

    -   The DS Modules Program coordinator developed this course using
         [[Teaching Tech
         Together]](https://teachtogether.tech/) and
         [[Carpentries]](https://carpentries.github.io/instructor-training/).

    -   Instructional Google Slides

        -   [[Design for
             Teaching]](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1M6iIsMsuMFcoJF_F8ZDyGBOYlLrqu5d5sy0S1V9q6PA/edit#slide=id.g4287549921_0_6)

        -   [[Creating a Positive Learning
             Environment](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1bBRWwM5j3PgaVekB7QGJcY493lElhY_S3VFHxKDqeLI/edit)
             ]

        -   [[How People
             Learn]](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17gGgqSx97ozodEmknY4QlESZfX1BTQx6EjKExDBfxs4/edit#slide=id.g42c2700ed2_0_248)

        -   The Advanced Jupyter Notebook workshop is done entirely from
             the [[GitHub
             repository]](https://github.com/ktakimoto/modules-ipynb/).

        -   [Student f[eedback
             form](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wrtvf8uHRl9iTmKR8BBx5MkL06JaG0AE5Ay5GEVsN8E)]
             (Spring 2020). We also have feedback for 2 to 3 other
             semesters, if helpful.

-   The [[DSEP Curriculum Guide Jupyter
     Book]](https://ds-modules.github.io/curriculum-guide/intro)
     helps staff/student interns create or work on data-driven courses
     or modules. Two student interns are updating it.

-   Program email: [[
     ds-peer-consulting\@berkeley.edu](mailto:ds-peer-consulting@berkeley.edu)]

## Program Description

The Data Peer Consulting program provides students and faculty across
campus assistance with data science work through a drop-in table at the
undergraduate student library. Data Peers all take a foundational course
that transitions them into developing consultation and teaching skills.
During the course session, they work as a data consultant and are
eligible to receive compensation in subsequent semesters. All of the
consultants connect through a Slack channel where they can share
questions and answers about consultation sessions.

Individuals can also request a time outside of the drop-in sessions for
a consultation. Consultations generally last from fifteen minutes to one
hour. This service does not cover material of substantial depth but
assists in getting people "unstuck" in their data science work. Data
Peer Consulting is one of the many opportunities in data science
programming at UC Berkeley where students can gain hands-on skills using
and trouble-shooting data science issues on campus. They had about 100
help requests last year.

## Best Practices for Variation Across Institutions

Other institutions need to think critically about how to train the data
peers (the use of DATA-198 materials). They can ensure the compatibility
of the training material content by updating them to fit their student
audience best.

Other institutions should be aware of the specific gaps that this
program can fill for their institution. Building a working relationship
with departments, data science courses, and faculty is important.
Relationships with faculty allow for a smoother connection as the
institution uses the program as a broad resource.