The Medical Sciences Building buzzed with energy on November 29, 2025, as students in Introduction to Statistical Reasoning and Data Science (STA130) gathered for this semester’s STA130 Poster Fair. The event marked the culmination of the course’s major final project, where students presented research posters developed from real-world datasets, an integral part of STA130’s emphasis on statistical reasoning, teamwork, and communication
The poster fair is intentionally embedded into the course structure as a capstone to STA130’s learning goals. Students spend the second half of the term working in teams to analyze data, prepare a professional research-style poster, and present it during their tutorial slot, a process that accounts for 20% of their final grade and mirrors the type of collaborative, communication-driven work done in statistics and data science fields. Led this year by Professor Nathalie Moon and Professor Skye P. Griffith, STA130 introduces students to the practical world of data: how to form meaningful questions, analyze information using R, and communicate insights clearly and ethically. Weekly tutorials reinforce these skills by giving students structured opportunities to practice writing, discussion, and short presentations, all of which prepare them for the poster fair environment.
Professor Moon noted that this type of applied communication is central to the course’s design:
The poster fair pushes students to think beyond code and calculations. It’s about building the confidence to say: Here’s what the data tells us, here’s what it doesn’t, and here’s why it matters.
This year also marked the first STA130 Poster Fair for Professor Skye Griffith, the newest member of the department’s teaching stream faculty. Griffith highlighted the value of giving students a public-facing platform to share their work.
“Many of these students began the course with virtually no prior knowledge of statistics or data science, and after only a few months, they've gained the statistical reasoning, computation, and communication skills to present research they've conducted on real-world data. It's been an honour to guide students through a project that captures the holistic nature of research in this field, and I'm proud to see how far they've come.” said Griffith.
Supported by Lead TA George Stefan and a team of 30 teaching assistants, the fair brought together hundreds of students across multiple sections. Through weeks of structured problem sets, tutorials, and group project milestones, students built the skills necessary to succeed in presenting their work at the fair.
The 2025 STA130 Poster Fair stands as a testament to the course’s commitment to hands-on, inquiry-driven learning. For many students, it marks just the beginning of their journey in statistics and data science.
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