George Alter

Associate Director of ICPSR and Research Professor in Population Studies, University of Michigan
ICPSR
PO Box 1248
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248 altergc@umich.edu

Phone:734-615-7652

Background Information

I am currently Associate Director of ICPSR, the world's largest social science data archive, with responsibility for Collection Development. My research is in historical demography and economic history, and I have appointments in both the Population Studies Center and the UM History Department. ICPSR has recently opened an "Online Learning Center" (http://www.icpsr.org/OLC/index.html) to help faculty introduce data in the ICPSR collection to undergraduates.

Related Pedagogical Projects

ICPSR has partnered with the Social Science Data Analysis Network (directed by William Frey) on two NSF-funded projects aimed at promoting quantitative literacy among undergraduates in the social sciences. We are building a "pathway" on the National Science Digital Library. "TeachingWithData.org" will be online in October 2009 with links to more than 500 resources for teaching quantitative literacy in social science courses. SERC is directing the assessment of the TWD project. Our project on "Infusing Quantitative Literacy" is developing assessment techniques for evaluating teaching modules that use data to introduce quantitative literacy in non-methodology courses. In addition, I am co-PI of an NIH grant to teach methods of longitudinal analysis with historical demographic data. This project has held three summer workshops with graduate students and faculty from all over the world.