MEI has developed a bank of resources to introduce A level Mathematics students to Data Science. This is aimed at students who have studied the first year of A level Mathematics and can be completed in the summer term of year 12 or over the summer break between years 12 and 13. The materials were trialled by schools in summer 2020.
The resources are designed to be studied independently and are suitable to set to students who are working remotely.
The aim of these materials is to give students a greater appreciation of the importance of data science to support them in making informed choices about future study/career options. They also give students an opportunity to explore the A level Large Data Sets in more detail.
The materials feature activities that use the A level Large Data Sets as a starting point. Throughout the resources there are examples using the data sets for each specification: AQA, Edexcel, OCR, and OCR(MEI). The activities introduce the use of Python for exploring data but no prior knowledge of programming in Python is expected from students or teachers.
The materials are split into 8 lessons:
The lessons include Meet a Data Scientist videos featuring practising data scientists talking about their work.
The pilot materials are available via Integral. Schools/colleges require either a subscription to Integral or access with a free account through registering with the AMSP.
These resources were enabled by the Arm School Program.
For more information about MEI's data science work please contact Tom Button, MEI’s Mathematics Technology Specialist.