---
title: "Reading a dashboard"
course: "DATA 101 · Question the numbers"
unit: "Data at work"
lesson: 13 of 16
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/question-the-numbers/reading-a-dashboard
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Reading a dashboard

Lesson 13 of 16 in **Question the numbers** (DATA 101), unit "Data at work". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Identify each metric's definition, time period, comparison point and data source on a dashboard.
- Explain why a metric can change because its definition or tracking changed, not because performance did.
- Separate a meaningful change from normal week-to-week ups and downs.
- Write the three questions you would ask the dashboard's owner.

## Teaching notes
Describe an invented sales or support dashboard for Larkspur Telecom as a text table with metrics such as tickets closed, average resolution time and customer satisfaction. Include one metric whose definition changed partway through the period.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 13 complete: Reading a dashboard."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Asking good questions of data" (lesson 14 of 16), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/question-the-numbers/asking-good-questions-of-data.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Challenge: does the evidence hold up?
Next lesson: Asking good questions of data