Crafting a Data and Research Story | MIND Research Institute

With a name like MIND Research Institute, it should come as no surprise that a lot of my content and messaging work involves data analysis, translation, and visualization.  I work with with subject matter experts like our Chief Data Science Officer, Education Research Director and others to tell stories about program efficacy, our neuroscience-driven approach, and more.

Whenever we are creating thought leadership content about our data story, we break the conversation into digestible chunks. These chunks are smaller conversations that can stand on their own, but are part of a larger discussion as well.  The format these individual pieces take really depends on the story we are trying to tell, and finding the best way to represent it.

One of the topics we've created a lot of thought leadership pieces around is edtech evaluation. Whenever schools or districts are looking at an edtech product, they need to make sure that product has evidence that it works. Unfortunately, many of the people making purchase decisions are not exactly sure what they should be looking for when it comes to that evidence. So they default to looking to see if a product has "one good study" as proof that it works. It's become a box-checking exercise, and both edtech vendors and the research community have enabled this status quo to exist for years, for various reasons.

Our approach at MIND focuses on having a robust portfolio of efficacy studies, but we also endeavor to  demystify edtech research and evaluation. We have a library of blogs, podcasts, infographics, ebooks, and other resources that are aimed at helping educators and administrators make more informed decisions about the instructional tools they are using with their students. Below are a few examples with links.

Infographics are another way we tell our data story at MIND, and I have collaborated with our Chief Data Science Officer, as well as our design team, on multiple infographics over the past few years. Below is an infographic that outlines our theory of change. The front side provides a breakdown of how the time put into the program leads to the mastery of math concepts and an advantage on summative tests. The back page dive a bit deeper into the discussions of recommended minutes, as well as efficacy data. Like the previous content pieces I shared above, this one can stand completely on its own, but is also part of a much larger conversation.