Development of data science education curriculum to foster intellectual information creativity

Abstract

Technology has certainly played a role in our ability to collect and store mountains of data on everything from traffic patterns, shopping habits and health outcomes. And, advances in algorithms and computing power have allowed us to analyse this data more quickly. But data is only as useful as the questions being asked and analysed. For this reason, researchers at Aichi University of Education in Japan are working to revamp the way data analysis and statistics are taught to students. Their goal is to provide students with a better understanding of the power of data and statistical analyses and go beyond simply calculating stats and returning the correct answers on exams.<br/> Professor Kazuhiro Aoyama is working with colleagues, including Professor Yoshinori Fujii of University of Miyazaki and Professor Yuichi Oguchi of Ibaraki University, to develop a new educational curriculum for data analysis and statistics and test it in classrooms all over Japan.<br/> The goal of the new curriculum being tested in classrooms revolves around a concept called intellectual information creativity. This concept reflects a student's ability to use their imagination when confronted with a dataset in order to make sense of and interpret the characteristics of the data. In an era when data processing can be done quickly with software, it is necessary for human beings to find meaning from data and education should teach students to engage in activities to discover new information.