{"id":1881,"date":"2021-10-15T10:35:58","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T14:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/?p=1881"},"modified":"2023-06-01T22:49:45","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T02:49:45","slug":"graham-albert-cds-teaching-fellow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/2021\/10\/15\/graham-albert-cds-teaching-fellow\/","title":{"rendered":"From Psychology to Data Science: How Teaching Fellow Graham Albert Utilizes Data"},"content":{"rendered":"

Graham Albert<\/span><\/a> is a teaching fellow for the \u2018DS 100 – Data Speaks Louder than Words\u2019 class at the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences. He works under Clinical Assistant Professor, Langdon White, to introduce students to the foundational aspects of data science. This includes leading lab discussions on the research design process, familiarizing students with data science techniques, and hosting office hours outside of class.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI<\/span> was very interested in being a TF for CDS because most research-oriented departments include an undergraduate<\/span> statistics course,\u201d Albert explains. \u201cThis is something that I would like<\/span> to teach should I become a professor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Albert is a quantitative researcher with a strong background in research methods. <\/span>Before coming to Boston, Albert attended Nipissing University, Canada where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. There, he worked at the Human Evolution Lab where he investigated the effects of evolution on human mating behavior. Here, Albert explored how the pitch of a man\u2019s voice influences their perceived attractiveness to women and their perceived dominance to other men.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, he is a PhD candidate in the Anthropology Department at Boston University. His work at BU focuses on the evolution of human behavior, specifically, how an individual’s interpersonal perceptions are affected by facial and vocal characteristics. Currently, Albert is conducting research to investigate how individuals use aspects of a man\u2019s facial appearance to discern dominance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout his career, Albert has utilized statistical and data science methods and believes that they are an essential part of his research work and have served to supplement his role as a teaching fellow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>My academic background as someone who studies the evolution of human behavior has provided<\/span> me with several skills that lend themselves well to being a TF in data science,\u201d Albert says. \u201cI know how to identify gaps in a field of research, develop<\/span> research questions and hypotheses to address those gaps, design studies to test my hypothesis<\/span> and analyze my results. All these skills are essential to being a good data scientist.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

DS 100 is a class that aims to establish strong critical thinking skills for future data scientists. It focuses on teaching students how to draw accurate conclusions from data analysis, how to utilize data to strengthen and communicate their arguments, as well as understand the strengths and limitations of their analysis on particular phenomena.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs someone who is<\/span> aspiring to mentor both undergraduate and graduate students, I think that teaching students to<\/span> solve their problems independently is an important skill to develop,\u201d Albert remarks. \u201c<\/span>I want\u00a0 to help my students learn how to <\/span>independently identify and solve issues in their code.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For students looking into pursuing a career in data science, Albert has two main points of advice. First, he believes that students should set clear goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPursue a career in data science because you like conducting research<\/span> and analyzing data,\u201d Albert advises. \u201cYou need to establish a purpose for entering a particular career<\/span> field. This will be both beneficial to you and those you <\/span>work with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, he encourages them to enter the career field with an interested and inquisitive mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a data scientist you should be open to lifelong learning,\u201d Albert says. \u201cYou<\/span> always need to be working to update your skill set and you should be<\/span> open and willing to learn about unfamiliar research areas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learn about the CDS teaching fellow connecting data science to psychology and the advice he has for students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1690,"featured_media":1883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,14],"tags":[22,39,40],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1881"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1690"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1881"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8602,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1881\/revisions\/8602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}