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Learner Reviews & Feedback for What is Data Science? by IBM Skills Network

4.7
stars
61,898 ratings

About the Course

Do you want to know why Data Science has been labelled as the sexiest profession of the 21st century? After taking this course you will be able to answer this question, and get a thorough understanding of what is Data Science, what data scientists do, and learn about career paths in the field. The art of uncovering the insights and trends in data has been around since ancient times. The ancient Egyptians used census data to increase efficiency in tax collection and they accurately predicted the flooding of the Nile river every year. Since then, people using data to derive insights and predict outcomes have carved out a unique and distinct field for the work they do. This field is data science. In today's world, we use Data Science to find patterns in data, and make meaningful, data driven conclusions and predictions. This course is for everyone, and teaches concepts like Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Neural Networks and how companies apply data science in business. You will meet several data scientists, who will share their insights and experiences in Data Science. By taking this introductory course, you will begin your journey into the thriving field that is Data Science!...

Top reviews

RS

May 11, 2020

Very learning experience, I am a beginner in DS, but the instructors in this course simplified the contents that made me I could easily understand, tools and materials were very helpful to start with.

KK

Feb 23, 2020

Terrific introduction to the Data Science course. Never expected but was extremely excited with the quality of content, speakers and a very honest attempt to making this course interesting.

Krishna

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8976 - 9000 of 10,000 Reviews for What is Data Science?

By Kevin B

•

Oct 19, 2022

Warning for those whose native language is NOT English:

These IBM Data Science courses are in DESPERATE need of review by a native English speaker. If English wasn't my first language, I can only imagine how much I would have struggled. To be fair, this particular course didn't contain anywhere near as many grammar, syntax, and audio transcription errors as some of the other courses in IBM's Data Science collection, but it is still pretty unbelievable that they expect us to pay money for courses that haven't been properly reviewed and proof-read.

By Abdulwasiu B

•

Jun 7, 2020

Impressive contents and materials.

experienced facilitators from impressive backgrounds in data science and analytics.

I like the intermittent review questions, helps in maintaining focus.

Thank you for the introduction and access to the IBM Watson VR service, I love the hands on exercise, took some pictures from around the house and tested the VR, Impressive, and still growing. However, I feel IBM Watson VR can still improve in some areas of systemic biases, may be due to cultural gaps...

I will recommend this course for anyone interested.

By Michael S

•

Aug 11, 2020

I took this course as the first in the IBM Data Science certificate sequence. The content was good, but the certificate is billed as being for people new to data science and in much of this course the speakers suggest you should have a background in statistics and should have some programming experience to be a data scientist.

From what I can gather, I think the other courses in the certificate will prepare people even without those things in their background, but it did give me some concern about whether I'm mistaken about that.

By Britney M

•

Aug 11, 2022

Videos were thorough and concise, however I did not like that the transcript did not reflect everythign the speaker was saying in some parts and then in other parts had more articles (a, uh, the). To me this seems like a fix that can be completed during review. Additionally, it felt as though the rubric for the final assignment had more emphasis on specific words being added in a response than the concept or idea being realized throughout a students answer. Thanky you for your time and appreciate the introduction course.

By Roopesh J

•

Aug 16, 2022

So far the experience has been worth every penny. The quality of content disseminated by lecturers, videos is awesome. There are instances where we a real person to guide us would make the process even more smooth and faster, viz., logging into IBM web, installing watson assisstant to name a few.

And i would really like to come in contact with a real mentor, a data scientist who is an industry professional who can give an inspirational insight to boost morale and motivate us, he/she can be a convenor of the program.

By olabisi o

•

Dec 19, 2022

This Data Science Course hassupported my confidence building as a Business Analyst. I was able to take actionable knowledge from the level of data, collated by different individuals and works of life. I see Programing as a underused , new avenues are opning and generating new growth for Research and Development in the health, marketing and research sectors. Learning pace is encouraging and easy to follow. Being exposed to likely earnings' of a Data Analyst is also a game Changer for me.

Than you.

Olatunji O

By Derek E

•

Nov 11, 2018

Overall the course was enjoyable and provided good information from relevant sources familiar with the course topic.

I'm sure you here this a lot, but the peer-reviewed grading assignment is not a good approach and would recommend that this feature be removed. I know Coursera has good intentions with this and they are trying to promote positive interaction engage learners to communicate with one another, but individuals taking these courses are not interested in the forum's for the most part.

By Laurie H

•

Apr 18, 2022

This was a good introduction to Data Science, and what a data scientist should expect to do. It also included a good description of what type of background might be required along with educational requirements for someone looking to get into Data Science. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is they tried to sell it a little too hard. I'm already taking the course and have demonstrated my interest. I don't need to be sold on why being a Data Scientist might be something great to be.

By Jason G

•

May 3, 2020

Self paced and easy without being boring. Interesting material. I felt the peer reviewed assignments and quiz portions promoted rote memorization vice actual understanding. All the ones i grades were clearly copy paste form the reading, yet by the grading rubric, they all scored perfect. The section requiring an account creation and use of the Watson AI application was a waste of time, and its rather annoying to have to create yet another account among the hundreds of others everyone has.

By Jessica W

•

Oct 22, 2020

The course is a very fast and high-level look at data science. I enjoyed it quite a bit and would recommend it to anyone who is nervous about exploring data science. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is that it could use some updating. Some of the screens on assignments don't match the Watson platform, and Watson no longer allows you to use the free version to do the assignment requested. Had that been working, it would have been 5 stars for sure. Really worth taking.

By Diego T B

•

Jul 6, 2020

The course was a great introduction to the world of Data Science. I whitnk it would be nice if, regarding the technical aspects of data science, you could include more tools or bibliographical references to train one-self in statistics, math and/or computational skills. Also, when it comes to definitions, there was some repetitive content along the course.

I am really grateful for having had the opportunity to learn about this passionate field. Thank you so much!

By Abigail J

•

Aug 14, 2019

The course was rudimentary and not as technical as I was expecting, but did give a really good introduction to what data science actually is and what data scientists do. The articles were more helpful than the videos (though the videos were still worthwhile) and for me the most directly useful part of the course was learning how data scientists structure their reports and deliverables at the end of a project. Definitely worth your time if you're new to the field.

By Nadia B

•

Apr 23, 2022

The course provided good foundation in explaining importance of data science, it's tools and skills and use, I felt it was rather content light, it spent a lot of time on justifying why, rather than how - I was hoping that in a 3 hour course, the techniques an skills would have been covered more in depth. I like the fact non-scientific skills such as curiosity, storry telling and enthusiasm were stressed and given equal importance as the technical ones.

By Ann-Katrin M

•

Apr 23, 2021

I very much enjoyed the course and got a good overview of data science, I think. The combination of video, quiz, and reading was nice and allowed me to stay engaged. The only criticism is the varying quality of the provided literature (not the content, just the display - looked different every time and was difficult to read due to lack of quality) and room for improvement of the answer fields for the assignment. The layout had some issues.

By Rafaella M

•

Apr 23, 2022

The course is very well structured and the topics organized. All the explanation is straightfoward which makes a complicated subject seem easy. The only downside is that some questions made throughout the course were not very practical and sometimes focused on small details that are unimportant, such as "which Magazine said data science is the sexiest job?" instead of "Why data science is the sexiest job according to Magazine XYZ?".

By Sabrina Z

•

Feb 18, 2023

A really useful and broad introduction to the data science world! I really enjoyed the organization of the course, as well as the speakers. The only reason because of I am not giving 5 stars is the reading section. Although all provided articles are useful, sometimes they contain some technical jargon not explained in the lessons (because it is an introductory course). Overall, an essential introduction to the specialization.

By Walter R

•

Jul 30, 2019

Very very detailed which is something I like. Only reason I didn't give it a full five stars is because the last quizzes in course 1 of this specialization were locked over a weekend. I'm guessing many factors in this decision were at play but I definitely am excited with what Coursera offers and was without Coursera for a sunny weekend. I'm hoping the rest of the courses in this specialization don't have any locked portions.

By David C

•

Mar 13, 2019

The content formed a great introduction to the subject but I felt that the quiz-format and peer-reviewed task could have been a little more challenging. I feel that the ease of the questions devalues the course somewhat. The questions should require understanding of the topic rather than purely 'copy from the text' style answers. But, I want to re-iterate that the content and quality of the information provided was excellent.

By Ananth V

•

Mar 8, 2019

Generally good content. This is good for beginners with little or no background to Data Science. Some topics were a bit mixed up with each other; but all put together the content was good for a beginner's course.

It may be good to add some videos / content from real life corporate stories. Right now, with most of the videos being of academicians, the application of data science in corporate / business scenarios is not emerging

By Elijah W

•

Mar 2, 2023

Great course for starting with the data science. I really liked the format of asking the real data scientists the questions about their work - their insights were very helpful.

Giving 4 out of 5 just because of the quizzes - they test some strange knowledge, like "in what company worked the person who said that thing". About 50% of the questions, including the final exam, are completely unrelated to the data science topic.

By Ahsan O

•

Mar 13, 2019

Excellent effort by whoever designed this course, however i think the course should include some real life case studies to better help understand the Scope of the field of data science. Or some real life examples like my instructor once told story about how Facebook and Walmart and some other business giants have used data science to reach success. it will kind of help motivate fresh graduates to move into this field.

By Elyass S

•

Oct 17, 2020

First, I'd like to say thank you for providing me the opportunity to learn skills that feed my curiosity.

I'd like to point out that I failed to realize that one needed to share their final submission via a link, and post them in the discussion board. There may be more people after me that make the same mistake, so may I suggest adding an extra reminder/instruction regarding the means to complete the final submission.

By James L

•

May 4, 2020

A well-communicated introduction that provides a succinct summary of the field for those interested in a career in it but unsure where to start. After completion, I now feel I have a much stronger understanding of what I need to learn and the skills I must develop. I would have preferred some more hands-on exercises, but on balance the content is appropriate for an introductory course such as this.

By Jason G

•

Aug 17, 2020

Please be consistent when asking true/false questions. Sometimes you put true first and sometimes you put false first. I selected the incorrect answer to a couple of the true/false questions because I instinctively thought the first response was true and second was false. I should pay more attention, but setting up the answers consistently would probably help students achieve better grades.

By L. B T

•

Oct 26, 2020

The course videos and assignments are solid, until we get to the final assignment. As an educator myself, I appreciate the value of peer-reviewed assignments. However, I waited over a week to get 3 peer assignments to review in order to finish the course. It might be ideal for students who are waiting only for their peer reviews to be permitted to move onto the next course while they wait.