Aligning data science education with a student's passion unlocks the potential for learning. This is exactly the approach taken by 2Sigma School — a premier online school that offers accredited high school classes in Computer Science, Data Science, Cybersecurity, including AP. They go further by grounding their teaching in the students' own interests. This scaffolds the learning process, creating a meaningful pathway for the student as they pursue education in science, mathematics, and engineering.
Image credit below: A week of complaints by Stefanie Posavec from the Dear Data project.
Code collaboration, Student-teacher interaction, classroom project organization
Python, Pandas, Matplotlib, Scikit-learn, TensorFlow
While datasets are easy to find, they are difficult to integrate into a lesson given the wide range of student interests. With Deepnote, teachers can pre-load relevant datasets into notebook templates. This gives students the ability to easily choose a dataset that they are interested in and explore it throughout the lesson as they build their data science skills.
2Sigma School explored several different platforms for the students as they learn and develop their data science skills. It became clear that the quality of the student experience was tied to how much individual attention students received in a timely manner. With Deepnote, teachers can view every students' notebooks remotely and give them feedback in real time during the class. This type of collaborative learning allows instructors to minimize the time students are stuck and maximizes the amount of progress students can make in each class.
2Sigma Schools requires a platform that is both easy to get started with and powerful enough to handle complex data sets and tasks. Deepnote satisfies both requirements. The Introduction to Data Science class is designed for students without prior background in computer programming or statistics, whereas, the Advanced Data Science class, caters to students who are ready to take a college-level course in data science. Across both beginners as well as advanced learners, Deepnote has proven to be an effective platform. The REPL environment allows beginners to write their first few lines of code and advanced learners to seamlessly use data integrations to solve complex problems.
Deepnote allows us, as teachers, to jump right into multiple student notebooks in real time. We can assist them while they are coding, leave comments, and monitor their progress. Deepnote provides the collaborative coding interface which allows us to focus on our students and their learning process.
We pay close attention to every student’s engagement and learning in our radically flipped classrooms. Deepnote's philosophy — that notebooks are not just for data scientists but for teams, aligns with and enables our vision of active learning . Their platform supports our unique teaching strategies focused on personalization, immediate feedback, accountability, and peer engagement.
Deepnote's easy-to-use collaborative interfaces and powerful integrations synergize with 2Sigma School's data science pedagogy. Rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach to learning, Deepnote helps 2Sigma School implement Mastery Learning (see the eponymous 2 Sigma Problem). As a result, students at any level become empowered, learning critical data science skills as they explore their own interests.
Learn more
Experience 2Sigma School’s data science classes risk-free with their free 2-hour workshop or learn more about their classes and pedagogy by visiting the 2Sigma School's site.
Click here to see the talks from Deepnote's 2021 Workshop on Collaborative Data Science Education.
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