Joy and Beauty of Data Syllabus

Course Time & Location:

Lecture Time: Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 9:00 am
Lecture Location: Gianforte Hall Room 200

Lab Time: Tuesday Open lab 9- 11 am; Section001 at 11 am, 002 at 12 noon, 004 at 2:10 pm, 005 at 3:10 pm, 008 at 4:10 pm
Lab Location: Roberts Hall Room 111

Weekly Schedule

Course Description

CSCI 127. Joy and Beauty of Data. 4 Credits. (3 Lec, 1 Lab)

(F, Sp, Su) Provides a gentle introduction to the exciting world of big data and data science. Students expand their ability to solve problems with Python by learning to deploy lists, files, dictionaries and object-oriented programming. Data science libraries are introduced that enable data to be manipulated and displayed. To succeed in this course, either basic computer literacy or CSCI 107 is recommended.

Course Outcomes

After successfully completing this course:

  1. Understand at a high level what data science is and why it is important.
  2. Utilize arrays, lists, files and dictionaries to solve problems in Python.
  3. Utilize fundamental object oriented principles such as classes, objects, methods and inheritance to solve problems in Python.
  4. Utilize data science libraries to solve data science problems in Python.

Resources

The main text we will use for this course free and online. 

The table on the weekly schedule lists out the schedule with links to lecture topics and what textbook sections to read for which days.

Teaching Assistants

TAs are responsible for live assistance during lab, holding office hours in the Student Success Center, answering emails, and grading assignments. 

Labs

Labs meet Tuesdays in Roberts Hall 111

A Teaching Assistant (TA) will be in the room to proctor the lab sessions, answer questions, provide guidance, and grade assignments. Each section will have a different TA, so get to know yours early, and take note of their office hours to visit them outside of lab time.

Open Lab Section 
TAs are available to help from 9:00 am to 10:50 am.  You may drop into these open labs regardless of your assigned section number. Please be sure to coordinate with your TA if you will not being seeing them in your regularly scheduled section.


Regular Lab Sections

Section   TA From  To    Email
1   TBD 11:00 am 11:50 am  

tbd
2   TBD 12 noon 1:00 pm   tbd
3   CLOSED 1:10 pm  2:00 pm  

N/A
4   TBD 2:10 pm  3:00 pm   tbd
5   TBD 3:10 pm 4:00 pm  

tbd
6    TBD 4:10 pm 6:00 pm   tbd
             
8 (Honors)   TBD  6:10 pm  8:00 pm   tbd

 

Programs

Programs are take-home assignments that are meant to take a bit more effort than the labs. Subsequently there are fewer of them you will have more time to finish. Programs are generally assigned every other week, and opening Monday morning, and closing Sunday night. It is strongly recommended you make every effort to finish the programs before the deadline, early in the week if possible. A tip: zeros are a lot worse than a plain old bad grade. If you get your program together enough that you think it would be worth some points, go ahead and submit it early with D2L -- you can always improve it and resubmit right up until the deadline.

Your TA will be familiar with the program and will grading it when your are finished, so they're a great resource to ask for help, but during lab times they will be focused on the lab. To get help with the programs, it's better visit the Student Success Center in Barnard Hall Room 259. Your TA will hold office hours there, but really anyone working there at the time you drop in should be able to sit down with you and help you with your program, even if they are a TA for a completely different class.

Exams

There are three exams over the course of the semester, including the final exam during finals week. The exams take place in the NAH class room during regular class hours (except for the final exam, which has its own schedule at the end of the semester.) These exams are all weighted evenly -- the final exam is not worth any more points than the other two.

Grading

Note: Practicums must be taken at the regularly scheduled time at the designated place and will not be given early or late.

  • Weekly Labs - 45% (evenly weighted)
  • Programs - 25% (evenly weighted)
  • Practicums - 30 % (evenly weighted)

To pass the course, you must average at least 50% on the exams. Assuming that this is the case, grades will be determined (after any curving takes place) based on your class average as follows:

  • 93+: A
  • 90+: A-
  • 87+: B+
  • 83+: B
  • 80+: B-
  • 77+: C+
  • 73+: C
  • 70+: C-
  • 67+: D+
  • 63: D
  • 60: D-

 

Policies

Please see the Policies Page for all general policies.

CSCI 127 Specific Policies:

In case of emergency, we're instating a one-time 7-day late pass that can be called in for any LAB assignments only (not the programming assignments) through week 12. To use the late-pass, you must email your TA before the 7-day period, and the assignment must be submitted within 5 days of the due date.

Additional MSU Resources