Covid and data science: Understanding R0 could change your life

Abstract

The Covid epidemic has provided an excellent example of the need to call on a wide variety of statistical tools to address a global problem, and can give students insights into some of the dimensions of data science. Here, we describe some of the characteristics of data that students encounter as citizens. We set out some teaching ideas, which focus on a few familiar core ideas—such as exponential growth, estimation, interpreting graphs, measurement, and sampling—set in the authentic context of containing a pandemic. In the final section, we sketch some more ideas on activities to develop student skills essential for civic engagement in a data-rich world.