Generative AI for Data Science 101: Coding Without Learning To Code

In this February edition of the JSDSE/CAUSE webinar series, we highlight the recent article Generative AI for Data Science 101: Coding Without Learning To Code. Should one teach coding in a required introductory statistics and data science class for non-major students? Many professors advise against it, considering it a distraction from the important and challenging statistical topics that need to be covered. By contrast, other professors argue that the ability to interact flexibly with data will inspire students with a lasting love of the subject and a continued commitment to the material beyond the introductory course. With the release of large language models that write code, the authors saw an opportunity for a middle ground, which they tried in Fall 2023 in a required introductory data science course in their school’s full-time MBA program. In this webinar, the authors share their experience teaching students how to write English prompts to the artificial intelligence tool GitHub Copilot that could be turned into R code and executed.

Article Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26939169.2024.2432397