In today’s job market, the ability to analyze large sets of data is more important than ever. The UO’s School of Journalism and Communication has taken notice, and it has begun to offer more courses teaching students these skills.

One such class is “Brand Insights with Data,” which gives students the chance to work with proprietary data they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. The class is taught by Heather Shoenberger at the school’s Insights and Analytics Lab and was featured in a recent technology website article.

“The class we have now has included access to comScore’s live TV ratings,” Shoenberger said. “We also have access to Alteryx because that’s what comScore TV professionals were using as their TV analysis tool at the time that we began the partnership. Finally, we have access to Shareablee, which offers social media data.”

The class may be fairly new, but it is already paying off — students are getting interviews in part because of their experience with these software programs – and Shoenberger said she is always looking for ways it could be improved.

For more, see “How the University of Oregon is Teaching Media Students to Use Big Data” on Campus Technology.

Shoenberger, who has been at the UO since 2014, teaches classes on strategic communication research methods, interactive advertising, advertising theory and media law. Her research centers on media psychology, psycho-physiological response to media, consumer behavior, entertainment media and behavioral advertising.