Data Science Education for Teens
An increasing number of universities are offering degree programmes in data science, as data become the fuel of the fourth industrial revolution. These degrees vary in not just what they are called, but also what they teach. Although the term "data science" is being used by more and more people, its meanings are as diverse as the people who adopt the term. What is data science? What skills are essential for data scientists? How should we best teach data science? People often ask these questions, so do we in this research and outreach project.
There are no definite answers to these questions yet. However, one consensus that accompanies the confusion people often have is that data analytical skills should be taught earlier in schooling and indeed, many schools now teach subjects deemed necessary for data science. We limit our discussion to data science for teenagers who are nearing the end of secondary education, as decisions on what to study in higher education often have huge impacts on later quality of life.
The aims of this research and outreach project are:
1. To review the literature on data science education so that we can build upon others’ work and learn from best practices. To achieve this goal, we will search and review the literature on data science education, digital education, computer science education, or another field that is relevant, such as science education.
2. To search and analyse openly available syllabi for degree programmes in data science provided by research intensive universities in the UK.
3. To interview real world data scientists and academics with teaching and/or research interests in data science. This is to solicit their views on data science education for teenagers who are preparing and perhaps considering data science as a degree for higher education.
4. To establish connections with school teachers who know the target group of students best and ask them to comment on and perhaps contribute to the blended learning course we are creating.
5. To deliver the course over five days to a group of 10 to 15 students, ideally from local schools in Devon, South West England.
6. To build a website that promotes the course to young people of similar backgrounds anywhere in the world so that the project will have a wider and longer-term impact beyond the end of the project.
Please note that this one-week long intensive summer course is the outreach component of the project, namely, aims 4 to 6 listed above. We do not collect research data from young people who take the course with us, although our reflections on the delivery of the course will help us interpret the data collected for aims 1 to 3, which are the research component of the project. At the end of the outreach project, we will ask a few students about what they feel they have learnt throughout the intellectual journey with us, but the information will serve primarily as a form a feedback on the delivery of the blended learning course.
This project is funded by a HEFCE Catalyst Grant to develop the City of Exeter as a national centre of excellence for data analytics, full details about the fund are available here.
There are no definite answers to these questions yet. However, one consensus that accompanies the confusion people often have is that data analytical skills should be taught earlier in schooling and indeed, many schools now teach subjects deemed necessary for data science. We limit our discussion to data science for teenagers who are nearing the end of secondary education, as decisions on what to study in higher education often have huge impacts on later quality of life.
The aims of this research and outreach project are:
1. To review the literature on data science education so that we can build upon others’ work and learn from best practices. To achieve this goal, we will search and review the literature on data science education, digital education, computer science education, or another field that is relevant, such as science education.
2. To search and analyse openly available syllabi for degree programmes in data science provided by research intensive universities in the UK.
3. To interview real world data scientists and academics with teaching and/or research interests in data science. This is to solicit their views on data science education for teenagers who are preparing and perhaps considering data science as a degree for higher education.
4. To establish connections with school teachers who know the target group of students best and ask them to comment on and perhaps contribute to the blended learning course we are creating.
5. To deliver the course over five days to a group of 10 to 15 students, ideally from local schools in Devon, South West England.
6. To build a website that promotes the course to young people of similar backgrounds anywhere in the world so that the project will have a wider and longer-term impact beyond the end of the project.
Please note that this one-week long intensive summer course is the outreach component of the project, namely, aims 4 to 6 listed above. We do not collect research data from young people who take the course with us, although our reflections on the delivery of the course will help us interpret the data collected for aims 1 to 3, which are the research component of the project. At the end of the outreach project, we will ask a few students about what they feel they have learnt throughout the intellectual journey with us, but the information will serve primarily as a form a feedback on the delivery of the blended learning course.
This project is funded by a HEFCE Catalyst Grant to develop the City of Exeter as a national centre of excellence for data analytics, full details about the fund are available here.