Teachers and Their Critical Data Literacy Teaching Practices: The Role of Disciplines, Research Experience and Organizational Context

Abstract In recent years, data has fed a growing industry of automation and artificial intelligence (AI). Also, the COVID-19 pandemic forced and accelerated the “digitalization” of education, raising issues about data collection and usage, privacy, and ethics. This paper explores a survey about data literacy teaching practices in two, large-sized, Euro-Mediterranean universities. The aim was, among others, to identify which variables influence critical data teaching practices (namely, disciplinary area, research experience and organizational setting). After polishing the dataset, 562 over 1174 records remained. The results indicate statistically significant differences between social sciences and STEM academics in selected dimensions of data literacy practices. Social sciences teachers reported higher engagement in addressing ethical issues related to data collection and use in learning (SDL4, M = 2.49, + 0,63, p = .002) and in educational and research contexts (SDL5, M = 2.66, + 0,73, p < .001). They also reported more frequent attention to the social conditions shaping data and AI use (SDL3, M = 2.35, + 0,60, p = .001), suggesting a stronger tendency to frame data practices within broader societal and institutional constraints. However, the role of teachers’ research experience and organisational settings remains less clearly patterned, pointing to heterogeneous configurations of data practices that warrant further investigation.