The Data & AI Literacy Program is excited to announce the design and approval of six new Experiential Data & AI Learning Pathways. These pathways mark the next phase in the evolution of the program, offering NU staff a structured, hands-on way to build data & AI literacy skills tied directly to their own work.
What Makes These Pathways Experiential
Each pathway begins with a sequence of vetted external courses and learning resources (from platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Salesforce Trailhead, Tableau, IBM SkillsBuild, etc.), some of which award their own badge or credential. But this coursework is only the starting point. Each pathway also includes periodic checkpoints and a required Summative Experience built around three steps: Do, Show, and Reflect. For the Summative Experience, participants complete a focused task drawn from their actual job, produce a real artifact as evidence (a document, a conversation, something shared with a colleague), and then reflect on what they did and what they learned.
In contrast to many professional development opportunities, this program consists of more than watching content and passing quizzes: participants apply what they’ve learned to something they are genuinely working on, and that application is what earns the culminating Experiential Data Literacy or AI Literacy badge. This approach reflects Northeastern’s broader commitment to experiential learning: education grounded in real practice, not just instruction. Just as Northeastern students learn through co-op and applied coursework, NU staff in this program learn by putting new data skills to work in their own roles, so what they learn is retained and carries over into how they do their jobs.
Introducing the Credential Constellation Model
These pathways are built on the program’s Credential Constellation Model, in which every credential earned, at every stage, contributes to a professional portfolio that grows more meaningful over time. Instead of one badge at the end of each pathway, participants collect a set of individually meaningful credentials as they go: external platform credentials earned along the way, plus an NU Experiential Data Literacy badge earned by completing the pathway’s Summative Experience. Together, these credentials form a personal constellation that participants can showcase on LinkedIn, bring to a performance review, or reference in any professional development conversation.
Six Approved Pathways
The following pathways have been approved and will be offered through Canvas:
- Seeing Data Differently: Building a Data-Informed Mindset, which helps participants build a data-informed mindset by learning foundational data literacy concepts, understanding data rights, and practicing how to question assumptions in everyday work
- Measuring What Matters: Data, KPIs, and Organizational Decision-Making, which helps participants align data with business objectives, build meaningful KPIs, and translate business needs into actionable insight
- Know Your Data: Understanding Data Types, Quality, and Sources, which builds fluency with data types, sources, quality, and bias, including how data can be misused
- Making Sense of Data: Analytics Essentials, which covers analytics, distributions and outliers, correlation versus causality, and the basics of AI in data analytics
- Data in Action: Making Better Decisions, which focuses on applying data to real decisions (human, augmented, and automated), using AI and machine learning where relevant, while weighing ethics and privacy
- Leading With Data: A Path for Managers and Leaders, built for leaders at every level to derive and communicate insight, foster a data-informed team culture, and align data governance and strategy with business objectives
Each pathway is self-contained, with its own learning modules, assessments, reflection checkpoints, and Summative Experience. Most pathways build in choice along the way, so the credentials each participant earns will reflect the choices they make, not a fixed checklist.
What’s Next
The Canvas courses for these six pathways are currently in development, with a planned launch this fall. NU staff will be notified as each pathway opens for enrollment.
In addition, several more pathways covering topics like critical thinking with data, data visualization and storytelling, Excel and Tableau skills, advanced data topics, and survey design are moving through course approval and will be announced as they progress.
Learn More
For more information about the Experiential Data & AI Literacy Program and the Credential Constellation Model, visit the Data & AI Literacy SharePoint site.
If you have questions, please contact [email protected].
We look forward to sharing more details as these pathways launch this fall!