This paper is from Session 3C: Modern data and visualizations in the introductory statistics course
which comes under Topic 3: Statistics education at the post-secondary level
Paper 3C1 (Monday 9th, 11:00-12:30)
Exploring modern data in a large introductory statistics course
Presenter
- Anna-Marie Fergusson (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
Co-author
- Liza Bolton (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
Abstract
The amount, availability, diversity and complexity of modern data means that students now require a wider range of data-related knowledge and skills. We present our initial attempts at increasing student awareness of what can be learned from modern data, within the context of working with large classes (n ≈ 450) made up of students from diverse majors. Through the telling of data exploration stories we cover: sourcing data through APIs, web scraping and open databases; working with different types of data/variables such as text, timestamps, location co-ordinates and images; and potential issues related to data quality, ownership, and privacy.