Student Showcase

This page showcases student data advocacy projects to demonstrate the types of projects afforded by the resources in the Data Advocacy for All Toolkit.

Examples of Data Storytelling Presentations

Gun Ownership and Gun Deaths

 Contributor: Rachel Marentes

Created as part of ENGL 1020: Core Composition I (Spring 2024, taught by Dr. John Tinnell at the University of Colorado Denver) as part of a Data Storytelling unit

This presentation surveys and critically reflects on statistics associated with gun violence, such as why gun owners claim to carry guns and the paradox that people often carry guns to feel safer out of fear that other people might have guns. Blending big data visualization with tragic stories of specific gun deaths, this presentation seeks to add statistical evidence and emotional appeals to advocate for more strict gun regulations.


A still from the video presentation. It shows a student presenting a slide that says ‘Gun Violence by Rachel Marentes.’ On the slide, there is also an image of a poster made by a protester that shows a drawing of bloody shoes with the words ‘It doesn’t have to be this way’ and ‘say no to gun violence’ written on it.

  Type of Data Advocacy: Gun Violence

  Genre: Data Storytelling Presentation

   Format: .mp4

Homelessness Beyond the Stereotypes

 Contributor: Carlos Martinez Ynsunza

Created as part of ENGL 1020: Core Composition I (Spring 2024, taught by Dr. John Tinnell at the University of Colorado Denver) as part of a Data Storytelling unit

This presentation focuses on the question of how people become homelessness and draws on several data visualizations to explain how a variety of factors, causes, or life crises are often at play, most of which have nothing to do with the stereotype of drug addiction. From this empathetic vantage point, the presentation then explores possible solutions and best practices, both for individual citizens and local governments.


A still from the video presentation. It shows the student—Carlos, a masculine individual wearing a black hoodie, speaking to the camera—presenting three graphics that show the rate of homelessness per 10,000 people in the general population. The graphic on the right provides specific information for Arizona, the one on the left shows comparative rates of homelessness across the entire United States, and the bottom graphic provides specific information for Colorado.

  Type of Data Advocacy: Unhoused/Homelessness Advocacy

  Genre: Data Storytelling Presentation

   Format: .mp4

How We Perceive Risk

 Contributor: John Bordali

Created as part of ENGL 1020: Core Composition I (Spring 2024, taught by Dr. John Tinnell at the University of Colorado Denver) as part of a Data Storytelling unit

This presentation explores the question of how we assess (and often mis-assess) the safety risks associated with various natural environments and social activities. It advances data-backed explanations of common factors that tend to shape the intuitive risk assessments people make everyday, including elements that often mislead our assessments such as, for instance, dramatic media coverage that warps our sense of how likely certain events are to occur.


A still from the video presentation. It shows the student—John, a masculine individual with dark black hair and facial hair, wearing a red shirt and over-the-ear headphones—presenting a graphic that shows the difference between public concern or perceived risk and actual hazard or real risk. ‘Terrorist attack’ and ‘plane crash’ have more public concern than actual hazard, and ‘heat,’ ‘traffic accident,’ and ‘cancer’ have more actual hazard than public concern. At the bottom of the graphic, there is a note that reads: ‘Adapted from Susanna Hertrich data visualization (www.susannahertrich.com’)

  Type of Data Advocacy: Public Safety

  Genre: Data Storytelling Presentation

   Format: .mp4

Rehabilitation vs. Punishment

 Contributor: Ella Ames

Created as part of ENGL 1020: Core Composition I (Spring 2024, taught by Dr. John Tinnell at the University of Colorado Denver) as part of a Data Storytelling unit

This video presentation provides a data-informed, comparative analysis of prisons in Norway and the United States, with emphasis on the statistics detailing the different outcomes associated with these two very different prison systems. Whereas the US system focuses on punishing inmates, Norway prioritizes rehabilitation. The presentation draws on research and data to argue in favor of the Norwegian approach and its potential to serve as a model for other countries aiming to humanize and improve their own criminal justice systems.


A still from the video presentation. It includes the words 'Rehabilitation v.s. Punishment' at the top of the image, and below there is a photo of a hallway of a prison facility. There are windows and technical equipment lining the right side of the hallway, and cells on the left. Two hands from a black individual rest through one of the cells.

  Type of Data Advocacy: Prison Reform

  Genre: Data Storytelling Presentation

   Format: .mp4


Dataset Documentation

Colorado Air Quality

 Contributor: Anonymous

Created as part of WRTG 3035: Technical Communication and Design (Fall 2023, taught by Nathan Pieplow at the University of Colorado Boulder)

In keeping with the call for rich dataset documentation issued by Timnit Gebru et al. in "Datasheets for Datasets," this student sample provides not only technical documentation of an air quality dataset, but also a detailed data biography and an ethnographic assessment of the broader context to which this data collection effort belongs.


A preview of the AirQuality 2018 dataset documentation that students produced, specifically with links to the dataset the project is analyzing, a summary of the project, keywords, and a paragraph about other purposes the dataset could be used for.

  Type of Data Advocacy: Data Biography

  Genre: Dataset Documentation

   Format: .pdf


Individual Data Advocacy Projects

Accessibility in the ATLAS Building at the University of Colorado Boulder

 Contributor: Kai Franks

Created as part of WRTG 3035: Technical Communication and Design (Fall 2023, taught by Nathan Pieplow at the University of Colorado Boulder)

This white paper uses original research to document the number of doors that can and cannot be opened using push buttons in the ATLAS building at the University of Colorado Boulder. It finds that the ATLAS building is in compliance with minimum ADA requirements, but advocates for additional push buttons to improve accessibility on exterior doors and the entrances to popular workspaces and labs..


Screenshot of an isotype data visualization showing the number of doors with and without functioning push buttons in the ATLAS building at the University of Colorado Boulder

  Type of Data Advocacy: Accessibility

  Genre: White Paper

   Format: .pdf

   License: CC BY-NC-SA

Pedestrian Safety in the Age of Growing Vehicle Sizes

 Contributor: Tristan Barnes

Created as part of WRTG 3035: Technical Communication and Design (Fall 2023, taught by Nathan Pieplow at the University of Colorado Boulder)

This illustrated op/ed uses images and data to support its argument that increasing vehicle sizes have seriously impacted the safety of pedestrians. It touts the benefits of smaller cars and advocates for stricter safety measures for vehicle design in the United States.


Screenshot of the title and byline of the article with a stock image of police tape around the scene of a car accident

  Type of Data Advocacy: Pedestrian Safety

  Genre: Op/Ed

   Format: .pdf

   License: CC BY-NC-SA

Why Teachers Are Leaving the Classroom

 Contributor: Mathew Marquez

Created as part of WRTG 3035: Technical Communication and Design (Fall 2023, taught by Nathan Pieplow at the University of Colorado Boulder)

This white paper analyzes the results of two NCES studies in an attempt to discover the primary drivers of turnover in the K-12 teaching workforce. Ultimately, it concludes that more study is needed. .


Screenshot from the student sample white paper showing a bar graph with the results of a 2012 NCES survey

  Type of Data Advocacy: Education

  Genre: White Paper

   Format: .pdf

   License: CC BY-NC-SA