Empowering Student Success: Integrating Competitions into Data Science Education
An Interview with Assoc. Prof. Viera Labudová on guiding students to victory in the Curiosity Cup 2024, Data Analysis Domain.
Could you briefly describe your role in the team and during the competition?
The project submitted by students from the Faculty of Economic Informatics at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia, to the Curiosity Cup was originally part of the "Analysis of Categorical Data" course, a second-year subject in the Data Science in Economics program.
In this course, students select their research topics—often addressing issues pertinent to the younger generation—to conduct surveys and utilize the collected data to showcase their proficiency in categorical data analysis and their skills with the SAS Enterprise Guide.
The course emphasizes teamwork, applying Belbin's theory of team roles to form balanced groups. Throughout the project, students receive guidance on questionnaire design, appropriate statistical methods, and other relevant aspects.
My involvement included:
-
Consulting on topic selection and providing general guidance on questionnaire design, scaling, and choice of statistical methods.
-
After the students presented their project, I suggested they participate in the competition and offered moral support for their continued efforts.
-
Consulting on selecting project elements that would be of interest in an international context.
-
Guiding the creation of the final submission for the competition's first round and discussing the video format.
How did you present this type of competition/project to the students? Is it now part of your course?
I learned about this competition during a visit from Katarína Krausová, SAS Academic Program Manager, who presented the competition's conditions and benefits to our Data Science in Economics students. I have long incorporated team-based projects into my teaching, with each team producing a comprehensive project. The primary difference is that our course projects are more extensive and detailed. In the future, I will certainly encourage teams with high-quality and interesting outputs to participate in such competitions.
Did your team encounter any challenges during the competition, and how did you overcome them together?
The main challenge was balancing the students' work on this project with their activities related to completing their final dissertations.
How has participating in the Curiosity Cup impacted your students' learning and development?
The students who participated in the competition are now successful graduates of our faculty. I consider this achievement a significant culmination of their work. It certainly serves—and will continue to serve—as motivation for other students.
How do you plan to use what you learned in this competition in your future teaching?
If I once again have students who not only possess quality knowledge but also demonstrate enthusiasm, creativity, and assertiveness, I will certainly support them in presenting their work in such formats. For me, experience in timing the different stages of project work is essential.
More information on the Curiosity Cup, including the latest winners, can be found HERE.
