Integrating Conference Poster Presentations into a Data Science Class

A poster presentation at an academic conference is an excellent opportunity for students to practice their communication skills as well as demonstrate their mastery of the subject material.For the last two years, Data Science students in my class have had the opportunity to present their work at Baylor's Southwest Data Science Conference.Last year's class was anonymously surveyed about their conference experience.Overall, the overwhelming majority say that they would either want to attend the conference again or would consider attending again in the future.They also responded that the poster got them excited about data science research, that the presentation increased their understanding of the subject material, that talking to other students about their research was beneficial, and that the conference was a good resume builder activity.These results are very encouraging as to the merits of this assignment.