Activities to Foster Improved Code Quality

Abstract

Code standards are an important part of modern data science practice, and they play an essential and growing role in the development of data acumen (NASEM, 2018; Pruim et al, HDSR, 2023). Improved coding practices lead to more reliable code and save more time than they cost, making them important even for beginners. We believe that principled coding is vital for quality data science practice and should be an important part of data science education. In this breakout session, we will help instructors identify why code quality is important and will describe activities and approaches that will facilitate introducing these practices, reinforcing them throughout a course, and holding themselves to a higher standard while guiding students. We will provide a brief overview and share resources, activities, and practical coding guidelines.