Alex Bowers
@alexjbowers.bsky.social
Professor of #EdLeadership Teachers College, Columbia University studying #EdResearch #EdAdmin w/ #DataScience #Bigdata #DataAnalytics. Affiliate @DataSciColumbia https://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/ab3764/
Reposted by Alex Bowers
New post on our efforts to back up the NCES Datalabs tables. Big thanks to all of the volunteers involved in backing these up! #DataRescue
www.datarescueproject.org/nces-datalab...
www.datarescueproject.org/nces-datalab...
NCES Datalabs Tables: Rescue Complete!
If you have been following along with the Data Rescue Project newsletter, you have been receiving occasional updates on our struggle to find and download all of the summary tables that were created by...
www.datarescueproject.org
November 13, 2025 at 2:56 PM
New post on our efforts to back up the NCES Datalabs tables. Big thanks to all of the volunteers involved in backing these up! #DataRescue
www.datarescueproject.org/nces-datalab...
www.datarescueproject.org/nces-datalab...
Reposted by Alex Bowers
We get asked all the time about how people can get involved to protect public data. @prbdata.bsky.social has compiled a list for you! We agree that "even small actions" can help!
Five Things You Can Do to Protect Public Data
Even small actions, taken together, can help strengthen the case for the importance of public data to our shared future.
www.prb.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:05 PM
We get asked all the time about how people can get involved to protect public data. @prbdata.bsky.social has compiled a list for you! We agree that "even small actions" can help!
Reposted by Alex Bowers
A pretty entertaining gallery of misleading visualizations + discussion
www.vislies.org/2024/gallery/
(already a year old, but I only discovered it through this year's VIS conference)
www.vislies.org/2024/gallery/
(already a year old, but I only discovered it through this year's VIS conference)
November 9, 2025 at 11:50 AM
A pretty entertaining gallery of misleading visualizations + discussion
www.vislies.org/2024/gallery/
(already a year old, but I only discovered it through this year's VIS conference)
www.vislies.org/2024/gallery/
(already a year old, but I only discovered it through this year's VIS conference)
Reposted by Alex Bowers
Really excited to share this new paper on "Data Visualizations as Propaganda", co-led by PhD students Priya Dhawka and Nina Lutz, which just won a Best Paper award at the CSCW conference: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
[Short thread]
[Short thread]
Data Visualizations as Propaganda: Tracing Lineages, Provenance, and Political Framings in Online Anti-Immigrant Discourse | Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Along with other visual content, data visualizations are increasingly used within
online discourse, including political communication. Though often considered to be
''objective'', data visualizations ...
dl.acm.org
October 27, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Really excited to share this new paper on "Data Visualizations as Propaganda", co-led by PhD students Priya Dhawka and Nina Lutz, which just won a Best Paper award at the CSCW conference: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
[Short thread]
[Short thread]
Reposted by Alex Bowers
@amstatnews.bsky.social is launching a citizen science effort to monitor the health of the federal stats system. We ❤️🛟 citizen science efforts 😉
Get involved today! docs.google.com/forms/d/1jI4...
Get involved today! docs.google.com/forms/d/1jI4...
Call for Volunteers — Citizen Science Project: Monitoring Federal Statistical Product Releases
As part of the American Statistical Association project assessing and monitoring the health of the federal statistical agencies, the project team is launching a “Citizen Science” project. This project...
docs.google.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:08 PM
@amstatnews.bsky.social is launching a citizen science effort to monitor the health of the federal stats system. We ❤️🛟 citizen science efforts 😉
Get involved today! docs.google.com/forms/d/1jI4...
Get involved today! docs.google.com/forms/d/1jI4...
Reposted by Alex Bowers
Interrupting the usual #datavis #rstats broadcast:
📰ANNOUNCE: Big Day here -- 📘📗📕
✔️Finished final editing and tweaks on my book
✔️re-built PDF & web versions,
✔️clicked SEND to forward to my editor.
✔️Published the online version
✔️DONE, for now: Visualizing Multivariate Data and Models in R
📰ANNOUNCE: Big Day here -- 📘📗📕
✔️Finished final editing and tweaks on my book
✔️re-built PDF & web versions,
✔️clicked SEND to forward to my editor.
✔️Published the online version
✔️DONE, for now: Visualizing Multivariate Data and Models in R
October 3, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Reposted by Alex Bowers
{tinytable} 0.14.0 for #RStats makes it super easy to draw tables in html, tex, docx, typ, md & png.
There are only a few functions to learn, but don't be fooled! Small 📦s can still be powerful.
Check out the new gallery page for fun case studies.
vincentarelbundock.github.io/tinytable/vi...
There are only a few functions to learn, but don't be fooled! Small 📦s can still be powerful.
Check out the new gallery page for fun case studies.
vincentarelbundock.github.io/tinytable/vi...
September 29, 2025 at 12:44 PM
{tinytable} 0.14.0 for #RStats makes it super easy to draw tables in html, tex, docx, typ, md & png.
There are only a few functions to learn, but don't be fooled! Small 📦s can still be powerful.
Check out the new gallery page for fun case studies.
vincentarelbundock.github.io/tinytable/vi...
There are only a few functions to learn, but don't be fooled! Small 📦s can still be powerful.
Check out the new gallery page for fun case studies.
vincentarelbundock.github.io/tinytable/vi...
Reposted by Alex Bowers
Data Science in Education Administration, Policy, and Practice from @alexjbowers.bsky.social
academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/...
academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/...
August 19, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Data Science in Education Administration, Policy, and Practice from @alexjbowers.bsky.social
academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/...
academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/...
How can #DataScience help schools improve? 📊
Despite huge investments in #EdData #Dashboards, evidence shows weak links to student outcomes. We need a new approach. #EdPolicy #SchoolLeadership #EdResearch
👉 Preprint: doi.org/10.7916/amq5...
Despite huge investments in #EdData #Dashboards, evidence shows weak links to student outcomes. We need a new approach. #EdPolicy #SchoolLeadership #EdResearch
👉 Preprint: doi.org/10.7916/amq5...
August 21, 2025 at 1:24 PM
How can #DataScience help schools improve? 📊
Despite huge investments in #EdData #Dashboards, evidence shows weak links to student outcomes. We need a new approach. #EdPolicy #SchoolLeadership #EdResearch
👉 Preprint: doi.org/10.7916/amq5...
Despite huge investments in #EdData #Dashboards, evidence shows weak links to student outcomes. We need a new approach. #EdPolicy #SchoolLeadership #EdResearch
👉 Preprint: doi.org/10.7916/amq5...
Reposted by Alex Bowers
Stand by this: www.politico.com/newsletters/...
February 19, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Stand by this: www.politico.com/newsletters/...
Reposted by Alex Bowers
I agree with this so much!
LLMs can "save you time" writing code, reading, and writing - which are all things I like doing! Spending less time doing those things doesn't feel like that much of a win.
LLMs can "save you time" writing code, reading, and writing - which are all things I like doing! Spending less time doing those things doesn't feel like that much of a win.
June 5, 2025 at 9:06 AM
I agree with this so much!
LLMs can "save you time" writing code, reading, and writing - which are all things I like doing! Spending less time doing those things doesn't feel like that much of a win.
LLMs can "save you time" writing code, reading, and writing - which are all things I like doing! Spending less time doing those things doesn't feel like that much of a win.
Reposted by Alex Bowers
Florida weatherman John Morales explains how the drastic cuts to science and federal services would reduce his ability to predict the movements of hurricanes.
June 5, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Florida weatherman John Morales explains how the drastic cuts to science and federal services would reduce his ability to predict the movements of hurricanes.
Reposted by Alex Bowers
Top 15 ggplot2 extensions, by downloads during the last month.
Some surprises here, at least for me.
#rstats
Code: gist.github.com/carl...
Some surprises here, at least for me.
#rstats
Code: gist.github.com/carl...
June 3, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Top 15 ggplot2 extensions, by downloads during the last month.
Some surprises here, at least for me.
#rstats
Code: gist.github.com/carl...
Some surprises here, at least for me.
#rstats
Code: gist.github.com/carl...
Reposted by Alex Bowers
Yesterday, June 2, was an interesting day at work. I was reporting a story about how the Education Department hadn't delivered a report to Congress on the Condition of Education, despite the June 1 deadline mandated by law. 🧵 (1/9)
June 3, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Yesterday, June 2, was an interesting day at work. I was reporting a story about how the Education Department hadn't delivered a report to Congress on the Condition of Education, despite the June 1 deadline mandated by law. 🧵 (1/9)
Reposted by Alex Bowers
If you're interested in Data Visualization, get your ticket for the data viz conference Outlier. If you're a Data Visualization Society member, virtual tickets are only $150!
www.outlierconf.com/outlier-2025...
www.outlierconf.com/outlier-2025...
Registration — Outlier
www.outlierconf.com
June 3, 2025 at 4:03 PM
If you're interested in Data Visualization, get your ticket for the data viz conference Outlier. If you're a Data Visualization Society member, virtual tickets are only $150!
www.outlierconf.com/outlier-2025...
www.outlierconf.com/outlier-2025...
Reposted by Alex Bowers
"Improving the Teaching of Applied Statistics: Putting the Data Back into Data Analysis"
from Singer and Willet
jstor: www.jstor.org/stable...
👇good👍
1️⃣real data
2️⃣context info
3️⃣interesting
4️⃣teaches something real
5️⃣allows many methods
6️⃣raw
7️⃣case ID
from Singer and Willet
jstor: www.jstor.org/stable...
👇good👍
1️⃣real data
2️⃣context info
3️⃣interesting
4️⃣teaches something real
5️⃣allows many methods
6️⃣raw
7️⃣case ID
May 29, 2025 at 11:56 AM
"Improving the Teaching of Applied Statistics: Putting the Data Back into Data Analysis"
from Singer and Willet
jstor: www.jstor.org/stable...
👇good👍
1️⃣real data
2️⃣context info
3️⃣interesting
4️⃣teaches something real
5️⃣allows many methods
6️⃣raw
7️⃣case ID
from Singer and Willet
jstor: www.jstor.org/stable...
👇good👍
1️⃣real data
2️⃣context info
3️⃣interesting
4️⃣teaches something real
5️⃣allows many methods
6️⃣raw
7️⃣case ID
Reposted by Alex Bowers
"Signal Messenger is warning the users of its Windows Desktop version that the privacy of their messages is under threat by Recall, the AI tool rolling out in Windows 11 that will screenshot, index, and store almost everything a user does every three seconds." arstechnica.com/security/202...
“Microsoft has simply given us no other option,” Signal says as it blocks Windows Recall
Even after its refurbishing, Recall provides few ways to exclude specific apps.
arstechnica.com
May 22, 2025 at 12:53 AM
"Signal Messenger is warning the users of its Windows Desktop version that the privacy of their messages is under threat by Recall, the AI tool rolling out in Windows 11 that will screenshot, index, and store almost everything a user does every three seconds." arstechnica.com/security/202...
Reposted by Alex Bowers
📊 Uncover how a card game, "Vizionaire," transforms the way students learn data visualization by challenging them to find the perfect chart for specific scenarios.
Check out the design by Alena Boucher and Christina Stoiber and read how you can play for yourself!
nightingaledvs.com/cards-charts...
Check out the design by Alena Boucher and Christina Stoiber and read how you can play for yourself!
nightingaledvs.com/cards-charts...
Cards, Charts, and Strategy: A Game-Based Approach to Data Visualization for Pattern, Nightingale
Figure 1: Example of the card designs for the game.
nightingaledvs.com
May 20, 2025 at 2:56 PM
📊 Uncover how a card game, "Vizionaire," transforms the way students learn data visualization by challenging them to find the perfect chart for specific scenarios.
Check out the design by Alena Boucher and Christina Stoiber and read how you can play for yourself!
nightingaledvs.com/cards-charts...
Check out the design by Alena Boucher and Christina Stoiber and read how you can play for yourself!
nightingaledvs.com/cards-charts...
Reposted by Alex Bowers
"Even when explicitly prompted for accuracy, most LLMs produced broader generalizations of scientific results than those in the original texts."
May 20, 2025 at 12:37 AM
"Even when explicitly prompted for accuracy, most LLMs produced broader generalizations of scientific results than those in the original texts."
Reposted by Alex Bowers
The journal Research in Higher Education is seeking manuscripts using data from the National Center for Education Statistics for a special issue. Please read the full call for papers here and circulate to your networks! #RIHE link.springer.com/collections/...
Call for Submissions using National Center for Education Statistics data
The journal Research in Higher Education plans to publish a collection of articles using data from the National Center for Education Statistics in the United ...
link.springer.com
May 12, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The journal Research in Higher Education is seeking manuscripts using data from the National Center for Education Statistics for a special issue. Please read the full call for papers here and circulate to your networks! #RIHE link.springer.com/collections/...
Reposted by Alex Bowers
Come & work with me @hpi.bsky.social & @bmittelstadt.bsky.social & @cruss.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk
I am looking for 3 post docs on the governance of emergent tech.
CS: tinyurl.com/yr5bvnn5
Ethics: tinyurl.com/yc2e2km4
Law: tinyurl.com/4rbhcndp
Application deadline is 15.06.2025.
I am looking for 3 post docs on the governance of emergent tech.
CS: tinyurl.com/yr5bvnn5
Ethics: tinyurl.com/yc2e2km4
Law: tinyurl.com/4rbhcndp
Application deadline is 15.06.2025.
Postdoctoral Researcher (m/f/x) in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
Postdoctoral Researcher (m/f/x) in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
tinyurl.com
May 5, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Come & work with me @hpi.bsky.social & @bmittelstadt.bsky.social & @cruss.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk
I am looking for 3 post docs on the governance of emergent tech.
CS: tinyurl.com/yr5bvnn5
Ethics: tinyurl.com/yc2e2km4
Law: tinyurl.com/4rbhcndp
Application deadline is 15.06.2025.
I am looking for 3 post docs on the governance of emergent tech.
CS: tinyurl.com/yr5bvnn5
Ethics: tinyurl.com/yc2e2km4
Law: tinyurl.com/4rbhcndp
Application deadline is 15.06.2025.
Reposted by Alex Bowers
My sabbatical leave allowed me to reflect on my professional life.
As I’ve stepped into more senior roles in academia (plus gotten a bit older), I often get asked:
“How do you keep writing academic articles, policy work, opinion pieces, while juggling everything else?”
My answer: skillpower
🧵
As I’ve stepped into more senior roles in academia (plus gotten a bit older), I often get asked:
“How do you keep writing academic articles, policy work, opinion pieces, while juggling everything else?”
My answer: skillpower
🧵
April 16, 2025 at 10:39 AM
My sabbatical leave allowed me to reflect on my professional life.
As I’ve stepped into more senior roles in academia (plus gotten a bit older), I often get asked:
“How do you keep writing academic articles, policy work, opinion pieces, while juggling everything else?”
My answer: skillpower
🧵
As I’ve stepped into more senior roles in academia (plus gotten a bit older), I often get asked:
“How do you keep writing academic articles, policy work, opinion pieces, while juggling everything else?”
My answer: skillpower
🧵
Reposted by Alex Bowers
Decision-making studies appear in HCI, vis, & increasingly AI/ML, but how “good decision” is defined is often ad-hoc
My #CHI2025 talk today will answer Qs like:
What's a decision problem?
What's the best possible performance on a decision problem?
What minimum info must participants be given?
1/2
My #CHI2025 talk today will answer Qs like:
What's a decision problem?
What's the best possible performance on a decision problem?
What minimum info must participants be given?
1/2
April 29, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Decision-making studies appear in HCI, vis, & increasingly AI/ML, but how “good decision” is defined is often ad-hoc
My #CHI2025 talk today will answer Qs like:
What's a decision problem?
What's the best possible performance on a decision problem?
What minimum info must participants be given?
1/2
My #CHI2025 talk today will answer Qs like:
What's a decision problem?
What's the best possible performance on a decision problem?
What minimum info must participants be given?
1/2
Reposted by Alex Bowers
Our Annual Review of Sociology article on conceptualizing and measuring structural racism is now available.
Get it while studying racism is still legal. @tyson-brown.bsky.social @pahoman.bsky.social
(also, lots of great articles are in this volume).
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Get it while studying racism is still legal. @tyson-brown.bsky.social @pahoman.bsky.social
(also, lots of great articles are in this volume).
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Advancing the Scientific Study of Structural Racism: Concepts, Measures, and Methods | Annual Reviews
This review provides 10 actionable recommendations for advancing the scientific study of structural racism through theoretically grounded and empirically robust measures and methods. By offering conce...
www.annualreviews.org
May 1, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Our Annual Review of Sociology article on conceptualizing and measuring structural racism is now available.
Get it while studying racism is still legal. @tyson-brown.bsky.social @pahoman.bsky.social
(also, lots of great articles are in this volume).
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Get it while studying racism is still legal. @tyson-brown.bsky.social @pahoman.bsky.social
(also, lots of great articles are in this volume).
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Reposted by Alex Bowers
As ‘bot’ students continue to flood in, community colleges struggle to respond
As ‘bot’ students continue to flood in, community colleges struggle to respond - The Hechinger Report
This story was first published by Voice of San Diego and is reprinted with permission. Community colleges have been dealing with an unprecedented phenomenon: fake students bent on stealing financial...
hechingerreport.org
April 30, 2025 at 7:50 AM
As ‘bot’ students continue to flood in, community colleges struggle to respond