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arXiv · 2401.17647

Generative AI for Data Science 101: Coding Without Learning To Code

Jacob Bien·Gourab Mukherjee
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Abstract

Should one teach coding in a required introductory statistics and data science class for non-major students? Many professors advise against it, considering it a distraction from the important and challenging statistical topics that need to be covered. By contrast, other professors argue that the ability to interact flexibly with data will inspire students with a lasting love of the subject and a continued commitment to the material beyond the introductory course. With the release of large language models that write code, we saw an opportunity for a middle ground, which we tried in Fall 2023 in a required introductory data science course in our school's full-time MBA program. We taught students how to write English prompts to the artificial intelligence tool Github Copilot that could be turned into R code and executed. In this short article, we report on our experience using this new approach.

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Jacob Bien, Gourab Mukherjee. 2024-01-31. Generative AI for Data Science 101: Coding Without Learning To Code. https://doi.org/10.1080/26939169.2024.2432397

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