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Teaching Data Science at General Assembly: Week 5

This week students are starting to think about what awesome data product they want to build for their capstone project. Also GA hosted a…

A healthy mind is complemented by a healthy body.
A healthy mind is complemented by a healthy body.

This week students are starting to think about what awesome data product they want to build for their capstone project. Also GA hosted a dinner for the community and invited refugees to dine. I was reminded why I became a data scientist.


Refugee Dinner

We are a community of problem solvers and innovators with a vision for social progress. We are the counter-culture to our county's current shift toward isolationism.
We are a community of problem solvers and innovators with a vision for social progress. We are the counter-culture to our county’s current shift toward isolationism.

GA hosted an in-house dinner for students, instructors, and refugees. I met several people with amazing stories. People who fled a good life in Syria – before the war. People who bounced from country to country – the Middle East, Asia, Europe – seeking asylum, yet receiving rejections. Young men and women in their twenties, older men with families to raise – people like you and me. They valiantly seek work in an industry that preaches inclusion but in practice requires domestic work experience. I was reminded about how fortunate I am to have been born an American, in California. I was also reminded as to why I decided to become a data scientist.


Shortly after graduating from UC Berkeley in spring 2014, I learned about data science and machine learning. ML and Big Data was the life blood behind all the technological innovations – it’s where the actions is and it had my attention. I read stories about Netflix’s recommendation system, Uber’s optimized driver service, and other incredible data-driven products that were making mankind’s existence, well, slightly more convenient. Although the tech and skill set of data science peaked my intellectual curiosity, there didn’t seem to be much humanity attached to the role. __ Most of what I saw was the celebration of data science as another corporate tool. Data science, I thought, might not actually be for me.

I later watched Jake Porway’s Ted Talk on DataKind. He spoke about how data science can be used for social good and not just for another food delivery or dating app. Jake gave examples of data science being used to show strong racial bias in the NYPD’s sto and frisk program using data viz and optimizing health care services with predictive models. What motivates me in life is serving a social cause that is larger than myself. I want to be the 80 year old man on his deathbed with no regrets about how he spent his life – by living a life with sense of a purpose. In order to be that man, I need to help solve challenges that drastically increase the quality of people’s lives: through education, health & fitness, justice, or helping identify and minimize political corruption.

Humanity faces an existential threat with climate change. Switching over to clean, sustainable energy needs to happen now, yesterday, 30 years ago. Data Science in combination with alternative energy sources, like solar, are showing the world that there are market-based solutions to switching off of oil. It is challenges in education, clean energy, healthcare, and building a society with environmentally sustainable practices that motivates me to solve difficult problems. It’s solving these difficult problems that motivated me to become a data scientist.

I don’t need to be a refugee escaping hell on earth to appreciate how lucky I am to have been born on this patch of dirt called California. But speaking with them reminded me that with great privilege comes great responsibility.


Capstone Projects

My students are diverse and so are their professional interest. They are interested in building smart tools for education, clean energy, recruiting, finance, and more.

One students wants to build a product around the idea of decomposing energy consumption readings and identifying which household appliances are using energy and the amount. By automating this process, the tool can identify energy use and waste from individual sources. This will help household, factories, and businesses save untold amounts of money by simply injecting machine learning intelligence into their energy grid.

Another student wants to build tools for online education. Online classes have taken off in a big way and he wants to help capture trends and hidden patterns that help with learning outcomes and improving the learning experience. A tool like this will help acquire more online learners, decrease the dropout rate, and increase user retention.

This is a 12 week course and we are only in week 5. Students are still brainstorming and researching ideas. It will be interesting to see how these ideas evolve and crystallize into data products.


Meanwhile at the water cooler - an inspiration and reminder of what can be achieved with grit, vision, and a sense of purpose.
Meanwhile at the water cooler – an inspiration and reminder of what can be achieved with grit, vision, and a sense of purpose.

About the Author

Alexander graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Physics and from Galvanize with a M.S in Data Science. He currently works as a Data Science Instructor for General Assembly. He is passionate about applying data science to solve challenging problems in the health care, clean energy, and environmental spaces.


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