For big data, big thinking
The information is vast, the challenges daunting, and the tools statistical. But in the end, Harvard’s new class on big data is as much about people as it is about methodology. The 29 students in “Statistics 183, Learning from Big Data,” work in teams that shift every few weeks, tackling challenges that involve enormous data sets. The students brainstorm and learn from their team members, but they also learn from the work of other teams. Each team posts its solutions to the class projects weekly, and the top three give overviews of their strategies. Students also lecture, presenting a different statistical method to the class each week. “The learning curve is very steep, but it’s also very exciting,” said Sherrie Wang, a senior biomedical engineering concentrator. “No other class I’ve taken is graded this way and is so project-intensive.” The course meets twice a week in Quincy House’s newly renovated Stone Hall, under...