MACHINE LEARNING FOR NON-MAJORS: A WHITE BOX APPROACH

Abstract

Data science is a new field of research, with growing interest in recent years, that focuses on extracting knowledge and value from data. New data science education programs, which are being launched at a growing rate, are designed for multiple levels, beginning with elementary school pupils. Machine learning is an important element of data science that requires an extensive background in mathematics. While it is possible to teach the principles of machine learning as a black box, it might be difficult to improve algorithm performance without a white box understanding of the underlaying learning algorithms. In this paper, we suggest pedagogical methods to support white box understanding of machine learning algorithms for learners who lack the needed graduate level of mathematics, particularly high school computer science pupils.