Modernizing the Statistics Curriculum for Non-Statistics Majors to Meet the Demands of Data Science and Analytics

• Activity Number: 575 - Modernizing the Statistics Curriculum for Non-Statistics Majors to Meet the Demands of Data Science and Analytics
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 2, 2017 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Statistics in Business Schools Interest Group
• Author(s): Dick DeVeaux* and Robert Stine* and Gareth James* and James Cochran* and Kellie Keeling*
• Companies: Williams College and University of Pennsylvania and University of Southern California and University of Alabama and Daniels College of Business, University of Denver
• Keywords: Big Data ; GAISE ; Curriculum Guidelines ; Statistical Science ; Business Analytics ; Unstructured Data

Abstract

The McKinsey report (Manyika et al. 2011) estimates a lack in professionals that demonstrate "deep analytical skills". PwC (2015) calls for increased analytics in the accounting curriculum. Cobb (AmStat 2015) suggests we make changes from the ground up and these may be influenced by three areas where statisticians can make contributions; "Big Data" from computer science; "analytics" from business; and "bioinformatics". ASA approved guidelines; Curriculum Guidelines for UG Programs in Data Science and GAISE II suggest we shift our pedagogy toward helping students to think with data, emphasize diverse models and to communicate the results, yet many introductory courses place emphasis on probability theory and mechanics of statistical inference, with little connection to real-world problems that are the focus of analytics. This session will address the gap between required non-statistics majors' curriculum and analytics programs, and offer suggestions to better prepare students for an analytics-oriented world. We will focus on the largest cohort of UGs majoring in business and the role of the 'business analytics' major in relation to the 'statistics' major.