Data Science Clinic Syllabus

DATA 271/27200, CAPP 30300, PPHA 30581, MACS 30300, MPCS 57300

Class Time: Tu/Th 5-6:20pm | Location: 5460 N University Room 105

Instructor: Nick Ross

Prerequisites: By instructor consent

Course Description

The Data Science Clinic at the University of Chicago partners with social impact organizations, government, industry and research groups to leverage data science research and technology to address pressing social and environmental challenges. The Clinic also provides students with exposure to real-world projects and problems that transcend the conventional classroom experience including:

• working with imperfect datasets, applying models and algorithms to real-world data, and navigating security and privacy issues
• communicating results to a diverse set of stakeholders and translating information into actionable insights, policy briefs and software prototypes

The Clinic is an experiential project-based course where students work in teams as data scientists with real-world clients under the supervision of instructors. Students will be tasked with producing key deliverables, such as data analysis, open-source software, as well as final client presentations, and reports.

Course Objectives

This course aims to provide students with a challenging, real-world, team-based project. We expect students to:

• Gain an understanding of the life cycle of a real-world data science project, from inception and gathering, to modeling and iteration to engineering and implementation
• Learn how to work effectively on a DS team drawing on modern DS project management methods and using modern tools of a data scientist
• Work with client organizations and learn how to effectively communicate, deliver an end product that advances and aligns with the mission of the organization

On Format and Expectations

This is a challenging course that is designed to maximize each students’ educational and professional growth as a data scientist working on a client based project. The course leadership team, which includes the instructor of record and members of the technical research staff assigned to this course, will be your primary guides for the quarter.

There are three required meeting times each week:

• 1 Mentor meeting: This is a weekly one hour meeting with the project mentor, all student as well as the TA
• 2 Hour-long work sessions: These sessions are on different days and the purpose is to have a touch base with the TA. They are required to be in person (usually in the Ryerson Annex) and attendance is mandatory.

It is expected that graduate students will work a minimum of 15 hours each week in this course and 12 hours for undergraduates. The course leadership team will be a primary support for each project and each student team is expected to maximize our team meetings together. In addition, given the unstructured nature of real-world data science, each student will be expected to demonstrate independence and diligence in finding appropriate resources and tools that address the unfolding data science challenges of the project.

On Communication

We will have multiple means of communication for this course: Github, Canvas, Slack and Email. Email will be used sparingly for communication and periodically for updates regarding grades as well as communication with external mentors. Each team will have their own individual project channel on Slack where we expect the vast majority of communication for this project to be done. Progress on the project and technical updates will be communicated through Github and Canvas.

On Grading

The Data Science Clinic cannot be taken as a pass/fail course. All students enrolled will receive a letter grade. The breakdown of your grade for this course is summarized below. Note that the source of the grading is put in parentheses before the description.

• 10% Peer Evaluation - [Google Form via Canvas] We will solicit feedback from the student teams over the course of the project. Students will be required to evaluate the contributions of all team members to the project.
• 2% Initial Computer Set-up
• 3% Initial Org Report
• 20% Weekly Reports/Work Product – [Project Mentors & TAs] Each week there are weekly reports which are due. Project mentors will score these reports on a scale of 0-5. The weekly reports are measures of a students effort and output for that particular week and may include the following dimensions:
  • Code Review: When code is pushed to github, what is the quality of that code? Staff will provide feedback on code quality and progress.
  • Presentations: If students are required to make a presentation, what is the quality? Are there grammar, spelling or formatting issues? How much clean-up work does the mentor need to be before the presentation is released? When communicating verbally are students talking at a good speed and loud enough for people to hear?
  • Write-ups/Documentation: Are required documents well-written? Are they well-formatted and have limited errors? Do they communicate their intentions to the specific audience?
• 10% Professionalism - [Project Mentors & TAs] Clinic leadership will evaluate each individual student’s demonstrated professionalism. This evaluation is drawn primarily from student written and verbal communication, student meeting the expectations set forth for the course, including 15 hours a week of work, general participation, attendance, engagement with clients and other professional behavior exhibited by each student. There are two specific areas of professionalism that I want to call out which will be graded:
  • Client Communication: During client communication are students prepared, ready and able? Are they asking good questions? Is the client sitting there in silence while people stare down?
  • Attendance: You will be expected to attend and be on time for all meetings, unless prior arrangements have been made. If you show up late, points will be deducted from your grade.
• 15% Mid-quarter Group Presentation [Clinic Director/Assc. Director] During the middle of the quarter you will be required to do a short presentation which describes your project to your peers. A complete rubric will be provided before the presentation.
• 40% Final Deliverables [Project Mentors/Clinic Director/Assc. Director] - Your final deliverables will be due during the week of finals with the exact date TBD. These deliverables represent the culmination of the team’s work on the project. Each group will prepare a one-page written executive summary and a video presentation. In addition, each group will submit their project outputs including but not limited to a code repository, final report, Jupyter notebooks, websites, etc. Project outputs will be determined in consultation with the project mentors and the client.

Important Dates

A list of important dates for the current quarter can be found here.

Accommodation Policy

If you require any accommodations for this course, as soon as possible please provide the instructor with a copy of your Accommodation Determination Letter (provided to you by the Student Disability Services office) so that you may discuss with them how your accommodations may be implemented in this course. The University of Chicago is committed to ensuring the full participation of all students in its programs. If you have a documented disability (or think you may have a disability) and, as a result, need a reasonable accommodation to participate in class, complete course requirements, or benefit from the University’s programs or services, you are encouraged to contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. To receive reasonable accommodation, you must be appropriately registered with Student Disability Services. Please contact the office at (773) 702-6000, TTY (773) 795-1186, disabilities@uchicago.edu, or visit the website at disabilities.uchicago.edu. Student Disability Services is located at 5501 S. Ellis Avenue.

On Sexual Misconduct and Harassment

The University of Chicago is a community of scholars dedicated to research, academic excellence, and the pursuit and cultivation of learning. Members of the University community cannot thrive unless each is accepted as an autonomous individual and is treated without regard to characteristics irrelevant to participation in the life of the University. Our university is committed to fostering a safe, productive learning environment. Title IX and our school policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Sexual misconduct — including harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking — is also prohibited at our university.

Our university encourages anyone experiencing sexual misconduct to talk to someone about what happened, so they can get the support they need and our university can respond appropriately. If you wish to speak confidentially about an incident of sexual misconduct, want more information about filing a report, or have questions about school policies and procedures, please contact Bridget Collier (Associate Provost for Equal Opportunity Programs and Title IX Coordinator for the University) at bcollier@uchicago.edu or (773) 834-6367.

Our university is legally obligated to investigate reports of sexual misconduct, and therefore it cannot guarantee the confidentiality of a report, but it will consider a request for confidentiality and respect it to the extent possible. As instructors, we are also required by our school to report incidents of sexual misconduct and thus cannot guarantee confidentiality. We must provide our Title IX coordinator with relevant details such as the names of those involved in the incident.