Get Into Data Science : An Introduction
Andrew Riley-Watson
A summary
We last ran this course at Brighton's i360 in the October half term of 2021. It was very popular amongst older children and even adults.
If you'd like to see us do this again, and you have a venue in mind, get in touch!
Here's a description of the two-hour workshop:
If you've ever wondered how Netflix knows what to recommend to you, how Tik Tok decides which videos to show you next, or even how we discover valuable minerals kilometres under the ground, the answer is Data Science. If you've ever wondered who advises governments on how much to spend on health, or education, or on how many COVID vaccines to buy - the answer is: data scientists.
We'd like to acknowledge the very generous support of the BA i360, the University of Sussex, and Geoscience leaders CGG in the production and hosting of this workshop.
A 2018 Royal Society report into data science in primary and secondary education comments that:
"demand for data science experts far [outstrips] that for other employment sectors."*
This situation can only become more severe in the future.
One of the most useful and marketable technical skills, data science combines many scientific disciplines - computer science, mathematics, statistics, and even some creative disciplines. It takes creativity to make huge amounts of data appealing and meaningful to people. When you see charts and graphs on the news, you're seeing data science in action. It's an exciting field of science, closely related to artificial intelligence and machine learning.
We need to train the next generation of data scientists now, because the increasing deluge of data we currently live with will need more and better data scientists in the future. Better and smarter data science will help us solve our most pressing problems.
Tickets
Standard
£15Standard
£15What we'll do
You'll be analysing a large dataset of earthquakes in Japan to try and find patterns in the data. We'll show you around the tools data scientists use to do this. By the end of the workshop you'll be making beautiful maps that will reveal interesting patterns in the data. You'll even be able to repeat this at home. We'll show you how!
Why learn data science?
Well, for one thing, it's immensely fun and satisfying visualising huge datasets with simple images, and finding surprising patterns in data. Is it incredibly geeky to enjoy coding and data analysis? Hell, yes! You'll be surprised how many other people love that too! You're not in school anymore. This is Genius Brighton. We love this stuff!
On a serious, or perhaps economic note, in a recent report by the Royal Society, "THE INTEGRATION OF DATA SCIENCE IN THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CURRICULUM", England's primary and secondary curricula at key stages 1-4 was examined to see how much data science existed in the various subjects. It was found that effective data science teaching at primary, and also secondary often depended on the teacher and the teaching, in technical subjects.
In 'overcoming barriers', the report concludes:
"Most of the curriculum issues highlighted can
be overcome without recourse to potentially
unwelcome curriculum change, but a more
detailed, updated and coherent computing
curriculum is needed – this could be through
non-statutory means. Other barriers relate to teacher confidence in
applying mathematics to domain questions,
and in conceptual and technical aspects of
computing. These issues could be addressed
through professional development
opportunities and more detailed guidance to
teachers. Simplified ‘intermediary’ datasets and models
with ‘conceptual veracity’ in secondary
education would be helpful to bring real data
into the analytical sphere of students. "
These issues are exactly what we hope to address with our introduction to data science. We hope it will inspire you to continue your journey at school and at home.
About your mentors
Andrew Riley-Watson
Maria Campos
Learning aims
Aim 1
Aim 2
Aim 3
Aim 4
Location
What's provided
Safety
Enhanced DBS
Basic DBS
Risk Assessment
Public Liability Insurance
Safeguarding Training
First Aid Training
First Aid Kit
Smoke Detector
Please note:
It is the responsibility of the booker to satisfy themselves about the adequacy of the measures provided above and any other details represented in this listing. This platform is merely an introducer and does not verify the items listed.
Cancellation policy
Cancel at least 48 hours before the start to receive a full refund.
My experience is an educational activity, and the ‘14-day cooling period’ under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 therefore applies. After the 14 day period my standard policy will apply.
