• University of Glasgow

Getting Started with Teaching Data Science in Schools

Learn the basics of data science and how to introduce data science in the classroom.

2,468 enrolled on this course

A teacher shows data visualiations to a classroom of students
  • Duration

    3 weeks
  • Weekly study

    3 hours

Learn practical ways to teach data science

Understanding how to use and interpret data will be essential for the next generation, but many schools and teachers aren’t equipped to teach basic data science to students. This course will help you introduce data science in the classroom so that your students are prepared for the future.

You will get an introduction to useful tools for exploring data, learn the basics of statistics and explore how you can embed data activities into your teaching plans. You will get hands on experience interpreting real data so that you feel comfortable helping students get started with data science.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 12 seconds Lovisa: Humanity generates more than two exabytes of data per day. That’s around two billion gigabytes, or hundreds of megabytes per person.

Skip to 0 minutes and 22 seconds Jeremy: At the lowest level, data is just electronic signals, ones and zeros, travelling along wires like this network cable or maybe stored on silicon chips. Data science is all about converting this low level information into high level insight, stuff that might change the world.

Skip to 0 minutes and 44 seconds Catherine: Open data allows us to share knowledge across disciplines, occupations, and methods. It allows us to create communities of open data practice and to better answer the pressing social questions of our time.

Skip to 0 minutes and 56 seconds Lovisa: Citizen Data Science is a force for good. It empowers you to investigate things that matter to you and use data to have a positive impact on your community.

Skip to 1 minute and 7 seconds Jeremy: Data relevant to your community may be collected by individuals, private organisations, or governments. For instance, think about traffic data, whether it’s car tax databases or air pollution monitoring or perhaps, lists of local potholes in your roads that need fixing. All of this data is relevant for citizen data science, and lots of it is available online for you to use.

Skip to 1 minute and 33 seconds Lovisa: You don’t need a supercomputer to do data science. In fact, you only need an ordinary computer and a web browser.

Skip to 1 minute and 40 seconds Jeremy: Whatever your subject, data is integral to it. You can embed data activities into all kinds of topics and projects– history, geography, modern studies, PE, religious education, psychology. You name it, data is involved.

Skip to 1 minute and 55 seconds Catherine: Research centres like the Urban Big Data Centre in Glasgow are working to make data more open and integrated for you to use. From cycling up data and social media data to GPS and satellite images, we’ve got data for you to use to help you explore the world around you.

Skip to 2 minutes and 11 seconds Lovisa: This course has been designed for the Centre of Computing Science Education and School of Education at University of Glasgow. It combines user friendly technology with research led, educational expertise.

When would you like to start?

  • Date to be announced

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Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Apply computational tools and techniques to topical open data sets
  • Explore large real-world data sets through computer-generated visualizations
  • Reflect on the value of data analytics, and the implications for society
  • Justify topical opinions based on evidence drawn from relevant data sets
  • Identify how data literacy tasks can be incorporated into school learning activities

Who is the course for?

This course is primarily for school teachers, but it might also be of interest to parents looking to teach their children about data science.

Who will you learn with?

I am a lecturer in Computing Science at the University of Glasgow. I am fluent in the following languages: Haskell, Java, C, Scouse and New Testament Greek.

* https://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~jsinger

I am a lecturer in CS Education at the University of Glasgow. Passionate about the power of education in transforming students lives and fluent in Python, Scratch & Auld Scots!

I am a PhD-student at the University of Glasgow investigating ways of improving the teaching of data scientific programming

Who developed the course?

The University of Glasgow

Founded in 1451, the University of Glasgow is the fourth oldest university in the English-speaking world. It is a member of the prestigious Russell Group of leading UK research universities.

  • Established

    1451
  • Location

    Glasgow, Scotland, UK
  • World ranking

    Top 70Source: QS World University Rankings 2020

Endorsers and supporters

funded by

The Data Lab

Learning on FutureLearn

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  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
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Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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