Applied Data Science

Students learn how to frame data questions, prepare and evaluate datasets, apply statistical and modeling methods, and communicate findings with clear evidence, uncertainty, and limitations.

What You'll Gain

Stronger Data Questioning

Students learn how to turn broad problems into clear research questions, success criteria, and analysis plans.

Practical Data Preparation Skills

Students practice wrangling, joining, profiling, cleaning, and validating data before analysis begins.

Applied Modeling and Inference

Students use probability, simulation, regression, classification, clustering, and other methods to support evidence-based claims.

Clearer Data Communication

Students build charts, narratives, slides, and recommendations that explain what the data shows—and what it does not.

Modules

The curriculum is organized into flexible, task-based modules. Choose the ones that align with your objectives and map them directly into your existing syllabus.

Module 1: Conducting a Survey and Summarizing Data

Design survey questions, summarize responses, and communicate early findings.

  • Problem statements and success criteria
  • Clear survey questions and response options
  • Frequency, relative frequency, and cumulative frequency tables
  • Modal categories and probability statements
  • Charts for survey results

Analyze relationships between two variables and support claims with two-way evidence.

  • When to use bivariate analysis
  • Combining and wrangling datasets
  • Contingency tables
  • Joint and conditional probabilities
  • Highlighted charts for key takeaways

Use sampling and simulation to make evidence-based claims about association.

  • Inferential research questions
  • Simple random sampling
  • Simulation for bivariate analysis
  • P-values and practical significance
  • Narratives for statistical findings

Build and evaluate classification rules for predicting categories.

  • Classification task design
  • Data cleaning for models
  • Misclassification rates
  • Predictions for new examples
  • Sequential visual storytelling

Use regression to model continuous outcomes and explain prediction uncertainty.

  • Regression objectives and metrics
  • Ethical data collection plans
  • Residuals and R²
  • Coefficients and prediction intervals
  • Charts that show uncertainty

Compare quantitative variables across groups using summaries and visuals.

  • Statistical comparison questions
  • Metadata and secondary data
  • Quantiles and box plots
  • Separation and overlap
  • Big ideas and calls to action

Analyze relationships between two quantitative variables.

  • Association research questions
  • Binning quantitative variables
  • Correlation and scatterplots
  • Trend lines, interpolation, and extrapolation
  • Charts for numeric relationships

Analyze patterns, variability, and stories in data over time.

  • Time-series research questions
  • Aggregation by time period
  • Moving averages
  • Trend and variability observations
  • Narratives around time-series charts

Use unsupervised learning to identify meaningful groups in data.

  • Clustering problem statements
  • Encoding categorical data
  • K-means evaluation
  • Segment prioritization
  • Charts for target segments

Explore one-variable distributions with data quality and limitation checks.

  • Univariate analysis tasks
  • Data quality exploration
  • Center and spread
  • Histograms and dot plots
  • Chart titles and takeaway text

Prepare time-based data and describe meaningful change.

  • Time-series data requirements
  • Interpolation for missing values
  • Percentage change
  • Patterns of change
  • Charts for change over time

Use proportions, confidence intervals, and p-values to evaluate claims.

  • Population and sample size
  • Selecting relevant data
  • Simulation p-values
  • Confidence intervals
  • Presentation slides for findings

Analyze categorical association while recognizing causal limits.

  • Association questions and sampling plans
  • Observational data collection
  • Chi-squared testing
  • Limits of cause-and-effect claims
  • Presentation hooks

Turn structured and unstructured inputs into usable data stories.

  • Images as data
  • Dataset creation and organization
  • Comparing center and spread
  • Written comparison summaries
  • Metrics as story characters

Analyze spatial and time-based patterns with maps.

  • Geographic time-series questions
  • Geographic joins
  • Maps over time
  • Trend observations on maps
  • Map encoding choices

The Shift in Data Science Education

Data science is no longer just about running models or producing charts. Students must understand how questions are framed, how data is collected, how uncertainty is measured, and how claims should be communicated.

Students must now do more than compute results. They must:

  • Ask clear, testable questions
  • Prepare and validate data responsibly
  • Choose methods that fit the problem
  • Interpret uncertainty and significance
  • Communicate findings with appropriate limits

Data science principles have not changed. Evidence, context, ethics, and clarity still matter.

Modern data science increases the importance of defending every claim from question to evidence to limitation.

A Look Inside the Learning Experience

Students learn through applied scenarios, hands-on analysis tasks, and communication exercises designed to build real-world data reasoning.

Practical Learning Resources

Students work with surveys, joined datasets, models, time series, clusters, maps, and statistical studies.

Interactive Assessment and Feedback

Students answer questions that test method choice, interpretation, uncertainty, and strength of claim.

Hands-On Validation Exercises

Students check data quality, evaluate model outputs, critique visualizations, and revise claims based on evidence.

Don’t Just Take Our Word for It…

Bring AI Into Your Accounting Curriculum Without Disruption

We will work with you to map AI capabilities to your existing syllabus, align with core accounting principles, and prepare students for AI-assisted workflows.