Dennis Foung is a lecturer in Arts Studies in Research and Writing (ASRW). He holds a doctorate in language education and a number of academic qualifications in the fields of language studies, human resource management and development, professional and vocational education, and data science. Prior to joining ASRW, Dennis was a member of the Learning Analytics team at the UBC’s Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology. He also taught academic literacy for more than 10 years in Hong Kong and Canada.

Dennis has a keen interest in big data research and its application in the teaching and learning context. He has published papers in journals and book chapters, as well as served as a principal investigator in various analytics-based projects.

“Big data” is a term commonly used by laymen, scholars, and professionals to describe a wide range of technological innovations. Big data is, in fact, a big leap in scientific research, because the collection of primary data does not rely only on researchers conducting surveys or observing subjects, but on retrieving existing mega datasets from servers. In this course, we will examine how a range of disciplines conduct scientific enquiry using big data and how they present their research findings in scientific articles. For example, what can data scientists do with big data in general? How do educators identify at-risk students? How do marketing specialists profile their customers for improved business outcomes? More importantly, how do scholars in these disciplines answer their questions to extend their knowledge of the disciplines?