Developing the Next Generation of Data Scientists
On the 3rd of September, our Acting MD Sarah was invited to attend a Data Science Education outreach event at the University of Exeter, to speak to teenagers about what it’s like to work as a real world data scientist.
Students from Exeter College and Exeter Maths School who were nearing the end of their secondary education and had an interest in data science and developing their analytical skills in R were invited to attend the event, following completion of an intensive one-week summer course at the University. The Data Science Education for Teens project, led by Dr ZhiMin Xiao and funded by the HEFCE Catalyst project, aimed to foster the students’ interest in the field and develop key skills in areas including data processing, statistical thinking, inference, prediction, and model testing.
Speaking about the event, Sarah said, “I was delighted to be involved in this project, which encourages the teaching of data skills earlier in students’ schooling. Not only will these analytical skills be of great value in their future studies, I hope that opportunities such as this will encourage students to consider a career in statistics and help grow the next generation of data scientists.” She added that, “I was very impressed with how engaged the students were with the project and with their enthusiasm to learn about applying statistics in the real world. It was a real pleasure to have the opportunity to speak with young people who are interested in where further study in maths and statistics could take them in their careers.”