Why Data Science is Cool (Slide Share)

AnalyticsEducation

Mar 3

I wrote Explaining Data Science to High School Students three years ago. It's about presenting to my son's local high school computer class. It was more challenging and more fun than I expected!

I get a lot of requests for the slides. Here they are. If you want to chat about them, or if you'd like me to present to your group, contact me.

Over the years, I've changed the main point of my talk. At first, my goal was to convince every student to study data science. That felt wrong, but it felt like the point of the gig. These questions changed my mind:

Mr. Palmer, is data science helpful in biology?
Mr. Palmer, is science helpful in history?
Mr. Palmer, is data science helpful in law?
Mr. Palmer, is data science helpful in teaching?
Mr. Palmer, is data science helpful in agriculture?
Yo, is data science helpful in marine biology? (no, not every student calls me Mr. Palmer).

Of course, the answer is yes to every one of these questions! Indeed, now, the highlight for me is to play a game. I ask the students to throw out their favorite subject. I try to tell a story about a customer I've met that uses data science in that field. It's usually easy! I document more and more stories each time I present; the image at right, below, is my current list.

Weave data science into the fabric of ANY field you study

Yes, data science is an excellent field of study. I'm always happy to talk with students who choose it. Now, my mission is to convince every student to learn at least a little data science. My call to action is to take at least one course in data science, stats, or machine learning. Moreover, I argue that it's one of the best minors in college you can choose. Data science will impact every profession in the future, so the more you know, the better.

So, whatever educational fabric you weave, make data science at least one thread of it.