Data Science 511

Welcome to Data Science 511! This course is an introduction to the tools and practices of data scientists. Our goal is to get you familiar with how work is done in data science, at an individual level as well as in collaborative settings. This is an interdisciplinary field that includes people from all sorts of backgrounds and experience, but there are things that all data scientists share. This course will give you experience in working as a data scientist, and will point you to tools that you can use, regardless of where your research interests take you.

We will begin with work at an individual level, getting familiar with the tools that each data scientist can use when working on a solo project. Gradually, we will expand our approach to show how those same tools can be used to collaborate with other individuals, teams, and large organizations. As we go through the semester, we will find how each of these tools benefit us, and how they can be combined in powerful ways.

As we said before, data scientists come from all sorts of backgrounds. This diversity is a strength of data science and often leads to interesting projects and perspectives that you may not be familiar with. Don’t be intimidated by not knowing everything. There will always be elements of things that we do not know. Build up experience with the tools at your disposal, and you will find yourself able to collaborate and learn as you go.

Todd Young