Students Get the 411 in Data 101

During fall 2024, undergraduate students in two sections of Data 101: Making Sense of a Data-Oriented Society—a mandatory class for all first-year New York Tech students—teamed up with nonprofit CommuterLink, sponsored by the New York State Department of Transportation Statewide Mobility Services Program (NYSDOT SMSP), to identify possible solutions for commonly faced challenges among New York Tech students in their commutes to campus.

^{Students Melisa Sharkly (left) and Lois Ackon host an activity during Commuter Fest, an initiative by Amy Bravo’s class on the New York City campus to gain more survey responses.}

The Office of Career Success and Experiential Education’s Senior Director Amy Bravo, M.A., and Associate Director of Employer Relations Lynn Hart, M.S.Ed., led the two sections on the New York City and Long Island campuses, respectively, with Director of Experiential Education Adrienne McNally, M.S., coordinating the semester-long project between the two classes and NYSDOT SMSP.

Data 101 teaches students basic statistical concepts: how to identify reliable data and to think critically about how to extract meaning from data. Students also learn about various biases, including social biases, how they affect data gathering and analysis, and how to address these biases. The experiential project with NYSDOT SMSP was a service-learning project in which students engaged in community service to meet both classroom learning objectives and societal needs.

McNally says this learning style is ideal. “This service-learning project was a perfect example of how students can meet their experiential education requirement for graduation, and it turns an ordinary course into an engaging and meaningful experience.”

For this research task, Bravo and Hart’s students developed a project to understand the commuting patterns, preferences, and challenges the student body faced. For New York Tech students, commuting is part of their daily experience. Transportation plays a crucial role in shaping student satisfaction, accessibility to education, and overall well-being. However, costs, delays, overcrowding, and safety concerns, to name a few, pose disruptive barriers to students’ academic and personal lives.

To start their projects, the students completed the CITI Program’s Social-Behavioral-Educational researcher training to gain necessary skills, like research ethics, for creating, distributing, and interpreting comprehensive surveys. Through flyers, in-class presentations, emails, social media posts, and events, students in the class developed their survey and promoted and distributed it to their peers across both campuses with oversight from NYSDOT SMSP representative Jennifer Covello (B.S. ’97).

From the 202 surveys completed in New York City and 215 surveys completed on Long Island, students collected and synthesized a variety of data to suggest solutions to identified issues.

In New York City, surveys revealed that most respondents are not aware of commuting resources at New York Tech and spend more than $100 on monthly commuting costs. To combat student concerns, including safety, public transportation delays, lengthy trips, and inconvenient schedules, the class proposed solutions like expanded OMNY Student Card eligibility, subsidized student travel through the university, better promotion of commuter resources—like 511NY, TechSafe, and Citi Bike—across campus, and a student-run shuttle service connecting campus to the residence hall.

The Long Island class discovered that most respondents drive to campus, with a majority taking between 15 and 60 minutes to arrive, and spending between $26 and $50 weekly. One-third of respondents remarked they were very dissatisfied with their current commute, citing traffic as their primary complaint, followed by gas costs and limited parking on campus—two-thirds say they’ve been late to class because of their commuting challenges. In response, the class researchers suggested using a carpool app like 511NY Rideshare or a bulletin board to connect students based on location and schedule with a rewards system, like gift cards to offset costs, for frequent carpool utilization.

“These students worked incredibly hard over the last few months, and it’s very exciting to see their findings,” says Covello. “Both campuses’ class recommendations are great. It’s impressive and inspiring to see students’ curiosity and understanding of what we do at NYSDOT SMSP, how it affects others in our community, and how these mobility programs can be improved.”

As part of the research project, the classes competed across four categories: survey content, the highest number of completed surveys, the most creative distribution, and final reports. All student researchers will receive New York Tech-branded business cards, and the winning class—New York City—will receive a celebratory lunch. 

“Through this project, we were able to put theory into practice and understand how to collect, analyze, and effectively communicate quantitative data,” says Nahian Islam, an electrical and computer engineering student in Hart’s class. “I have learned not only how to apply statistical concepts but also how to work with others toward finding solutions to real-world problems.”

Looking ahead, Associate Provost for Student Engagement and Development Tiffani Hinds, M.Ed., says the findings and recommendations are invaluable and may be presented to university decisionmakers for discussion and possible implementation. “I look forward to using this information to aid in creating resources that our students need,” she says.