Data science and the NBA

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Vocabulary - data collocations

data science lesson plan

LESSON OVERVIEW

With this data science lesson plan, students will learn a lot of advanced vocabulary related to the topic and put it into practice through a series of written and oral activities. They will also discover how data science is used in basketball and reflect on its possible use in other industries.

C1 / Advanced
C2 / Proficiency
90 minStandard LessonUnlimited Plan

WARM-UP & DATA COLLOCATIONS

In small groups, students look at several collocations with the word data divided into three groups. They need to discuss their possible meanings and try to add more collocations to each group. Then, they read the definition of a data scientist and reflect on different aspects of this job, as well as the application of data science in different industries. They move on to a vocabulary task in which they analyse eight sets of words and have to choose the odd one out. Next, they look at the sets again and have to find a set with three words that don’t collocate with data. The following exercise helps students understand the meanings of some of the words included in the sets. They’re given seven definitions and have to decide which expressions with the word data are defined. The last activity in this part of the lesson is a case study which involves analysing data, forming hypotheses and coming up with solutions to a problem experienced by an online food delivery platform.

VIDEO & LANGUAGE PRACTICE

The second part of the lesson starts with a video about the use of data science in basketball. Before watching it, students discuss how the scoring in basketball works and how many points a dunk shot is awarded. They watch the video and answer six specific questions. Afterwards, they engage in a discussion about the use of data science in sports. The listening part is followed by more language practice. First, students read nine sentences taken from the video with highlighted words and phrases and try to guess their meanings (e.g. mediocrity, granular, bang for buck). Next, they analyse ten sentences involving the words from the previous exercise and have to predict who might have said them and in what situation. The aim of the following task is to write a short summary of the video using the words or phrases given. Finally, students have to imagine how data science could be applied to a specific problem in their industry or field of interest. They need to define the problem, think of a goal, suggest a solution and what data will enable them to achieve the goal and later verify the solution’s impact. They share their study with the other classmates.

WORKSHEETS

Comments

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  1. John Hodgson

    Great lesson, it worked well. My students really enjoyed it.

    1. Ewa

      Thanks, that’s really great to hear 🙂

      1. Ann Yantsevich

        Great lesson! Thank you. It’s very hard to find information for advanced IT students. This one is just perfect! Waiting for more))

        1. Ewa

          Happy to hear that. More lessons are coming.

  2. HalanBastos

    You guys rock my socks

    1. Ewa

      Thanks, you’ve made my day 😀

  3. Agnieszka Godlewska

    Super lessons, ideal for advanced IT students. Thanks a lot.

    1. Ewa

      I’m glad you like it 🙂

  4. Christiane1963

    Very good lesson. It worked well, and I’m so glad to have it as e-lesson as well because all of a sudden, I was more or less obliged to do a hybrid lesson, part of the students online, the other part present. So thank you very much.

    1. Ewa

      Thanks! I know how challenging hybrid lessons can be, so it’s great that the elesson was of use.

  5. beapatok1

    Great lesson! It would be fantastic if you could make your lessons suitable for different language levels! 🙂

    1. Stan

      That’s a nice suggestion! A bit hard to implement at this moment, but we’ll definitely consider that.

      1. bea102

        Thanks for your message!

  6. Lydia goold verschoyle

    Great lesson! endless opportunity for speaking especially from advanced IT students, especially in the section on how data science can be used in specific areas… BIG thank you!

    1. Ewa

      Great to hear that! You’re welcome 🙂

  7. Lina

    Really interesting topic. Gonna use it in class. Thank you Ewa!

    1. Ewa

      Thank you! Hope your students like it!

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