Participation

Where appropriate, this seminar course will progress in groups of two consecutive meetings on a specified topic relevant to computing for data science. In the first meeting, the speaker will introduce the topic and work through a simple example. The participants will be expected to replicate the example outside of class before the next meeting (see below for details). The second meeting will involve a discussion of the topic, including any issues that arose with the example. The speaker may use the last half of the meeting to suggest further applications and reading/tutorial material.

Where the format is less appropriate or impossible to accommodate for various reasons—or we are in a leap year—we will have lectures by speakers on data science topics with an emphasis on computing.

Topics can range widely over aspects of computing, tools and practices. The schedule of topics for discussion will be established before the start of the quarter. A tentative list is on the website (TBD). However, changes are possible as speakers may not be local.

The course is offered on a credit/no-credit basis. Credit will be based on:

  1. participation in the exercises and their discussion;
  2. a short write-up on one of the discussed topics, chosen by the student.

We hope the write-ups will provide a source of valuable feedback for both participants and instructors. Students are strongly encouraged to think about how the techniques presented in this topic might relate to the student’s field of research. Such interactions are expected to be among the most useful contributions of this approach to teaching computing for data science. Comments relating to the use of the technique and to its presentation are also of value.

Details: For most topics, some associated software will have been specified on the course website prior to the meeting, possibly with some useful readings. Students need to have a moderate ability to use software in at least one of R or Python, particularly in a typical data science context. Working the exercises will likely require setting up the corresponding software packages or other utilities in advance. These will announced in due course.