Week 4

Data Scientists and Teams

Data scientist is a reasonably new term (and some question whether it is even helpful to define the work of individuals in the data field). However, the term seems to be gaining momentum as technology companies such as EMC are targeting researchers and data geeks through events such as the Data Science Summit. This week we'll explore what a data scientist is, what types of skills are needed, and the role data scientists play within organizations. We will be focusing on the influence of data scientists in educational settings.

We will also discuss the structure of a data science team. What types of skill sets are required in a team tasked with rolling out a learning analytics initiative? During the Learning and Knowledge Analytics Conference in Banff in February, we held a discussion on this topic. The responses were rather surprising. The suggestions for a learning analytics team ranged far and wide, incorporating a huge set of skills. Most organizations will not be able to roll out an expensive learning analytics initiative. This week, we'll try and define the core minimum skills need to be successful in rolling out learning analytics.

Readings

Conway, D. (2010, September 30). The data science Venn diagram. Retrieved from http://www.dataists.com/2010/09/the-data-science-venn-diagram/: [Please take a look at http://drewconway.com/zia/2013/3/26/the-data-science-venn-diagram to see the respective Venn diagram.]

How do I become a data scientist? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.quora.com/How-do-I-become-a-data-scientist

Mason, H., & Wiggins, C. (2010, September 25). A taxonomy of data science. Retrieved from http://www.dataists.com/2010/09/a-taxonomy-of-data-science/

PSLC DataShop. (n.d.). Retrieved from the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center website: https://pslcdatashop.web.cmu.edu/index.jsp

Activities

1. Take a few minutes to review these data blogs:

   Datablog: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog

   And a meta-list on Quora: http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-blogs-about-data

2. Add new concepts to your concept map from the topics address in this week and detail how they connect to previous concepts.