For the second year in a row, Skyline College participated in the American Statistical Association (ASA) DataFest for Two-Year Colleges, organized by the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC). From Friday, April 11, to Sunday, April 13, students had 48 hours to analyze a large, complex dataset provided by an industry partner, applying their data analysis skills to uncover meaningful insights.
To allow students to “try out data science” and prepare for DataFest, Math Professor Denise Hum, with the help of computer science students Ronin Morata and Yuting Duan, led a series of three beginner-friendly Python for Data Science workshops earlier in the semester. The workshops drew students from various majors—including computer science, biotechnology, psychology, public health, and more—and helped build skills and community ahead of the competition.
Once the surprise dataset was released Friday afternoon, teams got to work in the Skyline STEM Center, with Program Services Coordinator Luis Prado helping support their efforts through the weekend. After two days of collaboration on campus, teams finished their work remotely on Sunday, finalizing their analyses and recording their presentations.
Skyline students made a strong showing in the competition. Team Regression to the Meme earned the award for Best Insights, and Team Insight Insiders tied for Best Statistical Analysis with Montgomery College’s Mixed Methods.
Students reflected on the experience as both intense and inspiring. “DataFest provides a unique opportunity to apply concepts and techniques we learned in class,” said Ekaterina Alekseenko, a data science student on Regression to the Meme. “DataFest gave me good insight into where I need to grow, and what a company’s real-world data can look like,” added teammate Travis Wellman. Yuting Duan shared, “I enjoyed the weekend with my team. It allowed us to share insights during collaboration, and the intensive work pushed our tech stack boundaries.” Noel Amankrah-Bonsu, also of Regression to the Meme, said, “It was my first time participating in one and I don’t regret it. Working with like-minded people and putting in real effort was very rewarding.”
Insight Insiders also found the experience meaningful. “DataFest was a stressful yet fun experience,” said Joyce Tsai. “It was a valuable opportunity to apply concepts learned in class to the real world. If given the chance, I would love to do this again.” Her teammate Nicholas Tai added, “It’s challenging for 80% of the time to where you want, just to give up and never do this again. But the remaining 20%—after you figure out your question—becomes fun, and you feel proud of everything you went through.”
The Data-Vengers, comprised of students newer to data science, also gained a lot from the experience. “I truly appreciated the opportunity to be part of DataFest,” said Katherine Kyi, a biotechnology major. “The collaboration and creative problem-solving made it a memorable event.” Ronin Morata shared, “DataFest and the workshops leading up to it were a great introduction to data science for me. It allowed me to learn by trying to find trends and do real tests.” Public Health major Albania Fuentes Ramirez rounded out the team. She added, “Working with a real dataset was definitely challenging, but working on it with my team was really fun, and I would definitely participate again.”challenging, but working on it with my team was really fun, and I would definitely participate again.”
Skyline College’s continued participation in DataFest demonstrates students’ growing interest in data science and their drive to take on complex problems, collaborate under pressure, and communicate meaningful insights.
A grant from the California Education Learning Lab Grand Challenge INCLUDE project supports this work.
