Hackathons in Statistics and Data Science Education and Experiences from <scp>ASA DataFest</scp>

Abstract Data hackathons provide a platform for students to work with real and challenging data, allowing them to practice both technical and transferable skills, such as data wrangling, visualization, modeling, effective communication, and teamwork. This level of active learning is difficult to achieve in a typical classroom setting. In this article, we discuss the role and importance of hackathons in statistics and data science education. We also detail our experience as, to our knowledge, the only institution in the UK to have organized the ASA DataFest hackathon. We believe this contribution will interest colleagues who would like to organize an ASA DataFest or a similar event in their institutions.