DSC96
Perspectives in Data Science
Perspectives in Data Science
Welcome to DSC96 at UCSD! This class is titled "Workshop in Data Science", and is an optional, 2-unit project course in data science. The class is limited to about 15-20 students who will do hands-on projects. It is meant to be taken concurrently with DSC10, and has no prerequisites.
This class is about using data to answer questions. This is in contrast with most of your other classes this year, which are about fundamentals and theoretical underpinnings. The questions you get to answer are the big important ones, including “What happened?”, “Why did it happen?”, and “What will happen?”. The data used to answer the questions will range from real-world government data to tweets about UC San Diego to sound recordings.
By the time you finish this class, you will be able to:
Instructor: Colin Jemmott, cjemmott@ucsd.edu
Classes: Monday and Wednesday. We do meet both days despite one being listed as "discussion".
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM, SDSC E285
This class operates as a data science lab class, meaning that the bulk of time in class is spent doing data science. There are also some formal lectures, but most of the instruction is meant to help you understand the tasks and the context.
You should bring a laptop to every class. If you can't, please contact Colin and we will work something out.
Unless we get behind, there should not be much mandatory coding or analytics work outside of class (though you are encouraged to expand on the projects and see how much you can do!). There is significant reading outside of class, and it is important to keep up with the reading because of the limited formal instruction during class time.
Each week, at least 24 hours before the start of the Wednesday class, you must email me a paragraph or two about the weekly reading. The goal of this is to have a more in-depth conversation than our class time allows. Think of these journals more as emails to discuss something you read with a colleague than as a formal essay.
The topic is up to you, but examples include:
Weekly reading assignments are here.
Attendance is critical because the bulk of the coding happens in a collaborative manner during class time. Of course, you may have to miss class due to illness, a family emergency, or similar reason. If this happens, you should let me know by email as soon as possible (preferably before class). You will still be responsible for completing the in-class work. Without the collaboration and explanations that happen in class, this will be much more difficult, so I strongly recommend coming to the office hours for help. In-class assignments from a missed class will not be accepted more than a week late unless you ask for and receive special permission.
Let me know if you want to go to the other section. It shouldn't be a problem, but sometimes they get out of sync.
Some coding will be by yourself, and some will be paired programming, meaning that you will work together with a partner to complete tasks. In both cases you are encouraged to ask for help from the instructor or from other students. This is a collaborative environment, which means that while in this classroom it is ok to show your work to other students and discuss it openly.
However, even in this collaborative environment, the work you do must be your own. Specifically, you must do the actual work of completing the assignment (i.e. typing out the code, moving the mouse) and understand what your code or analysis is doing.
Journaling responses to the reading - 50%
SDPD traffic stops project = 10%
Unstructured data project - 10%
Audio classification project - 10%
Class participation- 20%
Final Grade
70%-100% = Pass
0%-69% = No Pass
For this class, the key to academic integrity is accurately representing the status and authorship of your work. I strongly encourage you to read the official UCSD policy on integrity of scholarship.
I am committed to an inclusive learning environment that respects our diversity of perspectives, experiences and identities. You, as a student in this course, are also responsible for maintaining an environment where your fellow students feel safe and respected.
In my opinion, the key to this is recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of every person. If there is a way you could feel more included please let me know, either in person, via email/discussion board, or even in a note under the door.
If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting accommodations, please contact Office for Students with Disabilities. You must have documentation from the the Office before accommodations can be granted.