Data Science uses statistical methods and computer programming to extract meaningful stories from data. Pretty cool, huh, considering the sheer amount of data that we are collecting these days? In this camp, students will learn about the importance of this amazing new field, one of the hottest in the world. Learn how to write simple code using R, how to tell stories using visualization tools, basic stats and machine learning. Designed and delivered by UBC professors and PhDs, leading experts in the field, specifically for kids in grades 6-9.
When and Where?
Monday August 11 - Friday August 15, 2025.
1:00-4:00pm.
Location: The Vancouver Independent School for Science and Technology (VISST) - 1490 West Broadway,Vancouver, BC.
Who?
This camp is for students in grades 6-9.
Why should you attend?
Learn from the best: This camp is designed and delivered by leading Data Scientist in the field from the University of British Columbia.
Data Science is one of the fasted growing industries in the world. The sheer amount of data companies and organizations collect is mind boggling.
Data Science is an interdisciplinary field that combines statistics, math, programming, story telling and visualization: Perfect for those who like both science and art.
Earn a certificate of completion from the Vancouver Independent School for Science and Technology.
What will you learn?
Basic programming in R: What is data science? Let’s write our first line of code in R and create mosaic art using programming (small individual project).
Data wrangling and visualization: What is a function? We will learn about story telling using histograms, scatter plots and bar plots.
Introduction to frequentist statistics: What is mean, median, mode and standard deviation? We will learn about sampling, bootstrapping and hypothesis testing.
Introduction to machine learning: What is machine learning? Students will select a data set to run KNN (K-Nearest Neighbours) with more than 2 variables.
Neural network and AI: What is AI? Students will play a physical neuron board games, ask a chatbot to write code and discuss the ethical ramifications of AI in society.
Program Requirements
Students should bring their own laptop.
Students should try to install R and R Studio (see: https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/) prior to camp.
We recommend that parents create a free ChatGPT account in advance for the students to use, although this is not mandatory.
If you want to borrow a laptop from us, we have a VERY limited number available. Please email us to request one.
Camp Instructor
Sky (Kehan) Sheng is a PhD candidate at UBC where she conducts interdisciplinary research involving animal welfare science, data science and AI bias. Her previous work focused on applying AI and machine learning models to analyze animal behavior, health and welfare. Recently she focused on evaluating the performance and potential bias in generative AI models. Sky also worked as a Teaching Assistant for UBC Master of Data Science, and mentored many undergraduate and graduate students in programming and data analysis. Driven by a desire to inspire and empower students, she is passionate about fostering personal growth and sparking a love of science in her students.
Acknowledgement:
The materials of this workshop was designed based on “Girls in Data Science” workshop by Dr. Katie Burak, Jenny Lee and Mona Zhu, <Data Science: A First Introduction> written by Dr. Tiffany Timbers, Dr. Trevor Campbell, and Dr. Melissa Lee, and <ModernDive> written by Dr. Chester Ismay and Dr. Albert Y. Kim.
Make it a Full-Day camp
If you want to make this a full day camp experience, you can register for this camp AND our How to Win at Games using Math camp from 9:00am-12:00pm (August 11-15) concurrently and save $40. Students who take both camps can stay at VISST from 12:00-1:00pm for a supervised lunch. Please bring your own lunch (no nuts or seafood).
Fees and Registration
If the fee is a barrier to your participation, a limited number of bursaries are available for eligible families - please email camps@visst.ca to inquire.
Refund policy: To request a refund, email camps@visst.ca. We will refund you for all remaining classes occurring at least 2 weeks after the date of the refund request.
Cancellation policy: VISST reserves the right to cancel camps and refund camp fees due to low enrolment. In this event, we will provide as much advance notice as possible.