Schedule

Below is a roadmap for the semester. Note that this will inevitably change from the first day you access this course. However, whatever is listed below should be considered canon. Accordingly, you should visit this page frequently throughout the term.

As mentioned in the syllabus, the course is structured by topics; each week introduces a new topic. Moreover, every week is divided into four important sections that you should engage with: principles, applications, weekly writings, and assignments.

Overview

The class is structured in the following way: each week, you will have two readings - generally a “principles” first, then an “applications” second (though this couse has drifted from this paradigm). Read the first reading for the Week under Course Content before our first meeting, and the second before our second meeting of the week. In either Tuesday or Thursday class, you’ll be given a prompt for your weekly writing, which is due at 11:59pm on Saturday (see assignments and the syllabus for more info.

  • Tuesdays (): This page the material that we will discuss in Tuesday classes.

  • Thursdays (): This page the material that we will discuss in Thursday classes.

  • Weekly Writings (): Weekly writings are due each week on Saturday at 11:59PM (eastern). Each week’s writing prompt is given during lecture either Tuesday or Thursday

  • Lab Assignments (): This page contains the instructions for the weekly lab (1–4 brief tasks) and for the three projects + final project. Labs are due by 11:59 PM (Eastern) on the following Monday. Labs are in addition to weekly writings and projects.

You should follow this general process (in order) each week:
  • Do everything on the principles () page before Tuesday
  • Come to the lecture on Tuesday.
  • While “in class” on Thursday, work through the applications () page
  • Complete the weekly writing by Saturday - topic assigned in class, see assignments for details and template
  • Complete the lab () by Monday.
  • As needed, attend the lab hours hosted by the TA

Course Calendar

Week Dates Programming Foundations Tuesdays Thursdays Lab Assignment
1 Jan 13 & Jan 15 (Re-)introduction to R
2 Jan 20 & Jan 22 Tidyverse & (Re-)introduction to ggplot
3 Jan 27 & Jan 29 Effective visualization in theory and practice
4 Feb 3 & Feb 5 Advanced Visualization & Data Wrangling
Data Analysis Foundations
5 Feb 10 & Feb 12 Data Hunting
Sat Feb 14 Project 1 Due
6 Feb 17 & Feb 19 Uncertainty and Probability in R
7 Feb 24 & Feb 26 Linear Regression I
8 Mar 10 & Mar 12 Linear Regression II
9 Mar 17 & Mar 19 In-class Presentation of Project 2
10 Mar 24 & Mar 26 Linear Regression III
11 Mar 31 & Apr 2 Nonlinear Regression
12 Apr 7 & Apr 9 Feature Selection and the Bias Variance Tradeoff
Sat April 11 Project 3 Due
13 Apr 14 & Apr 16 Classification
Further Extensions
14 Apr 21 & Apr 23 Text as Data
Conclusions
Thurs April 30 Final Project Due

Due dates listed here are the actual due dates. On occasion, due dates in D2L are incorrectly set when porting from previous semesters. In all cases of conflicts, the due dates listed here prevail.