A major activity of DIMASC is stimulation and invigoration of teaching, both undergraduate and graduate, through incorporation of consulting activities into courses.

Teaching through consulting can be viewed as an extreme example of flipping a classroom, and has a number of characteristics that are quite distinct other forms of teaching:

• Student activity is initially focused on a clear shared goal: the requirements of a client.
• Student questions related to a client’s goals drive the structure of the course.
• Tools and methods are introduced or developed as student questions require the tools.
• Student activity aimed at achieving goals leads to other student-formulated goals and further questions, tools and activity.
• Students never ask “When will we ever use this?” because what they are learning is being introduced or developed to use in an activity, of their choice, aimed at achieving a goal either of the client’s making or of their own making.
• Extreme emphasis is placed on effective oral and written communication, both to the entire class, and to the client, because a major aim of class activity is to report research findings to the client.

 

Student questions

Student questions about a client’s stated requirements are what drive student engagement to formulation of sub-goals, re-formulation of goals, desire for appropriate tools, and individual and group activity. 

Here are examples of questions, asked and posted publicly, for MTH 231 Exploratory Data Analysis, Fall 2108.

Written reports

Written reports, addressed to a client, with the client’s needs and background taken into account, are an absolutely necessary part of any course based around consulting.

There is a strong focus in our consulting-based courses on oral and written technical communication. There is explicit instruction in written communication (see here, for example), and — as importantly — students are required to give frequent short oral presentations and to write technical progress reports. There is ongoing formative feedback, by both faculty and students, on oral presentations and technical writing, so that students have a strong base from which to write their final reports to clients.

• Example of a written report to a client from a Data Science Freshman
• Example of a written report to a client from a Mathematics Senior
• Example of a written report for a client from a team of two Senior undergraduates and a Data Science MS student

Employer focus

Employers of quantitatively-oriented graduates want people who have:

• a proven ability to conceptualize and solve problems
• excellent written and verbal communication skills 

A frequent complaint of employers is that students have been educated with “back of the chapter” problems, and cannot think critically or bring together disparate technical elements. Our consulting-based courses give practice in these important skills.

Another employer complaint is that collaborative work is an essential part of the technical workplace, but graduates typically have little preparation in this. Our consulting-based courses provide such preparation.

A major complaint of technical employers is that students do not have the reliability and conscientiousness that are necessary in the competitive workplace. Our consulting-based courses instill a professional attitude in the handling of student projects. In particular, there are firm deadlines for milestones, and inflexible deadlines for oral and written progress reports: students are required to behave professionally toward the clients.