Learning & Community Building in Data Science: Conference Talks!

R-Ladies organizers Angela and Katherine will each present talks on community building and teaching in the context of data science. Please join us!

These talks are a preview of Angela and Katherine's upcoming presentations at csv,conf,v5. Please join us to discuss these topics and let us know what you are interested in learning more about!

csv,conf,v5 is a community driven data conference on May 13 & 14. It is an event that's not literally about the CSV file format, but rather about what CSV represents to our wider community ideals (data interoperability, hackability, simplicity, etc.). Due to COVID-19, the conference is now 100% virtual and open to all. Find more information about csv,conf here: https://csvconf.com/

After you RSVP, you will be provided the Zoom link to go to in order to attend this event.

--------- Talk Abstracts ---------

Data Communities and Those Who Build Them
Angela Li

In order to support the use of data in various contexts, it is important to have champions who demonstrate the value of tools, shepherd new users, and provide support to those learning to use data. In this talk, I’ll cover my experiences with data community building and share strategies from open source communities such as R-Ladies and The Carpentries, as well as the spatial data science community I support at my research center. I’ll discuss the value of the data community builder and their role within / outside of institutions for encouraging uptake of technical tools. Some of the skills needed for these roles may not be what you think: building relationships, being empathetic toward use cases (and users!), organizing events, teaching effectively, and setting strategy for expanding data networks, among others.

Learner-centered teaching for the non-traditional data science classroom
Katherine Simeon (with Diya Das & Angela Li)

There is considerable variability in how individuals learn computing skills. While many formal courses, both online and in-person, are available to learners, typical methods of learning are acquiring knowledge on-the-job and participating in short-term workshops. While these non-traditional contexts are highly successful, instructors are challenged to capitalize on a limited amount of time and resources, while catering to learners of different backgrounds and experience levels. In this talk, we will discuss how pedagogic research can be applied to computing & programming education in non-traditional settings (e.g., corporate training, 1-day workshops, and one-on-one mentorship). Specifically, we will explore how to modify established learning formats in order to address specific needs of learners. Finally, we will outline best practices to facilitate a collaborative and inclusive learning environment that can motivate both instructors and learners.

--------- Schedule ---------

6:00 - 6:10 -- Announcements & Intros
6:10 - 6:30 -- Angela's Talk on Data Science Communities
6:35 - 6:55 -- Katherine's Talk on Learner-Centered Teaching

---------------------------------

Q: Are men welcome to attend this event?
A: Our primary mission is to encourage more women and non-binary individuals to get involved in the R community. As such, we strongly encourage that all men who attend this event have a female or non-binary sponsor. Please contact chicago@rladies.org if you have questions.

As with our in-person meetings, we expect all attendees to abide & be governed by our community code of conduct. Please take a moment to review our R-Ladies Global code of conduct (particularly if this is your first time attending!): https://github.com/rladies/starter-kit/wiki/Code-of-Conduct