Recently, the Ministry of Education announced a list of the National Excellent Online Open Courses 2018, the course "Introduction to Data Science" offered by Renmin University of China is recognized as the second batch of national Excellent Online Open Courses. The general manager of the course is Lemen Chao, an associate professor of the School of Information Resources Management and a researcher of the Key Laboratory of Data Engineering and Knowledge Engineering. The members of the course team includes Professor Xiaomi An and Professor Jun Chu of the School of Information Resources Management. The construction of this course was officially launched in 2015 and available on the platform of Beijing Institute of High Quality Courses in 2017. It is the first course to systematically introduce the theory of data science in China. Currently, the number of courses selected has exceeded 13,000.

Introduction to Data Science is an introductory course of data science. It mainly explains the scientific problems behind it: concept, theory, method, technology, tools, application and data product development of data science in the era of big data and. It lays a good foundation for further study of data science theory. The course is divided into two major topics: the basic theory of data science and the development of data products. The main features of this course are as follows:

(1) In the choice of teaching content, we draw lessons from the teaching experience of the relevant courses offered by the first-class foreign universities, not only explaining the background, definition, brief history of development, theoretical system, terminology and ontology, basic principles, data science projects, data scientists, how to track the latest developments of data science and data science and typical applications, but also focus on research and development of data products. It explains the application fields of data science, including data products, data flexibility, data strategy, data capabilities, data governance, development technology and typical cases.

(2) In teaching methods, we emphasize heuristic education, advocate student-centered teaching mode, attach importance to the cultivation of students' interest and confidence in data science and big data technology, start with the contradiction between "new data" and "old knowledge" in the era of big data, and focus on explaining new concepts, theories, methods, technologies, tools and practices in the era of big data, so as to enhance learning. Students'3C qualities in data science are creative design, critical thinking and curiosity.

(3) After each topic, there is a course of "How to Continue to Learn this Topic". It focuses on explaining learning methods and matters needing attention, recommending the interpretation of classical books and important academic papers at home and abroad, expanding students' horizons, and improving students' ability of continuous learning and active learning.

(4) Actively explore the teaching reform of MOOC course, pioneer the idea of Open-sourcing courses, and share the full set of resources of this course on GitHub to establish the Open-source Course Community of Introduction to Data Science. At present, more than 200 teachers have applied to join the Open-Source Action of Introduction to Data Science course.

The construction of this course is supported by the project of the Ministry of Education-IBM Industry-University Cooperation and Educational Personnel. Professor Chao Lemen, who is in charge of the course, was awarded the CSC-IBM China Excellent Teachers Award by the National Overseas Study Fund Management Committee and IBM Corporation. Since 2015, Chao Lemen and his team have focused on data science and big data technology. They have successively compiled monographs/textbooks such as Data Science, Theory and Practice of Data Science, Python Programming: From Data Analysis to Data Science, and presided over and completed teaching reform projects such as "Introduction to Data Science" curriculum design and teaching reform research, and published academic papers. He has won many awards, such as the National Outstanding Contribution Award for Big Data Education, the National Natural Science Foundation Project (Final Evaluation Excellence), the China Big Data Innovation 100-person List, the China Big Data Academic Innovation Award, the 50-person Data Science Award, the IBM Global Excellent Teacher Award and so on. He has served as a member of the iSchools Data Science Course Committee of the International Union of Information Academies, and the National College Big Data Education. The members of the expert Steering Committee of the Alliance's Big Data Textbooks and the vice-director of the National Alliance of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Innovation Experts Committee have exerted a great influence in the field of data science and big data technology, which has been highly recognized by colleagues at home and abroad. The successful construction of "Introduction to Data Science" course by Chao Lemen Associate Professor Team reflects the active exploration and accumulation of achievements in the field of data science and big data technology in Renmin University of China.