Determinants of variation in IDS content emphasis

Ascertain whether the observed differences in content emphasis across introductory data science courses are primarily attributable to instructors’ disciplinary backgrounds or to differing interpretations of the scope and purpose of an introductory data science course.

Background

The paper observes considerable divergence in the latter half of IDS syllabi, particularly for advanced topics and tool selection, in the absence of formal curricular guidelines.

The authors pose two specific explanations for this divergence—disciplinary background versus differing course interpretations—and report no consistent pattern in their data, leaving the questions unresolved and open for investigation.

References

This raises important questions: Are these differences in content emphasis a result of instructors' disciplinary backgrounds (e.g., a computer science instructor including more programming-focused topics), or do they reflect differing interpretations of what an introductory data science course should be? While this was a plausible consideration, we did not observe a consistent pattern between instructors' academic/professional backgrounds, their institutions and the nature of their curricular knowledge. As such, these questions remain open for future investigation.

— Understanding Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Data Science Instructors: An Inaugural Framework (2508.14009 - Demirci et al., 19 Aug 2025) in Discussion and Conclusion: Elements of PCK in IDS Context