4C: Data for all: a general education course in the undergraduate curriculum (Room 108)

Abstract

We propose Data Science as a general education (GE) course in the undergraduate curriculum inspired by collaboration with the California Alliance for Data Science Education. Data literacy is a necessary foundational skill for the public. We will host a discussion with attendees about potential content for a comprehensive introductory data science course and how to prioritize depth versus breadth of topics in such a course. We hope everyone in attendance learns how they might incorporate such a course at their own institutions in the presence of other introductory, data-related coursework such as a conventional statistical literacy course. Together with attendees we plan to explore ways educators can meet the growing demand for this skill set and integrate data consumption and analysis into the broad educational goals of each institution. In particular, how can this course look the same across advanced high school, 2-year college, and 4-year college curriculum? How can, or should, it look different across these different levels? We hope that ideas about prerequisites, or lack thereof, and the coursework that follows such a GE course will also help shape the discussion about its learning objectives in parallel with our desires for learners' abilities upon completing it.