Introducing Data Science Topics to Non-Computing Majors

Author(s):
Erik Golen
Senior Lecturer
Rochester Institute of Technology

This workshop will focus on teaching data science at an introductory level to college students in non-computing majors, including a discussion of the major topics that would be taught in such a course and hands-on exercises using a Data Science Learning Platform (DSLP), which is under development as part of the presenter’s IUSE grant. Teaching data science topics to non-computing majors is challenging since this population of students is unlikely to have the requisite background knowledge in mathematics and programming that a traditional computing major would have, thus requiring a fundamental pedagogical shift in delivering this material. After attending the workshop, you will be able to: (1) explain the various phases of the data to knowledge pipeline typically taught in data science courses, (2) gain experience with handling data in a computational way using the DSLP without the need to program, and (3) obtain course materials and access to the DSLP.

Coauthors