Data for the Rest of Us
Course Info
- Dr. Brandon Walsh
- Spring 2025
- Shannon 317
- Office Hours: Thursdays 10:00AM-12:00PM in person in Shannon 308 office or Fridays 10:00AM-12:00PM on zoom (but email first to ensure availability!)
Data science might feel like the domain of rarefied experts: computer scientists, engineers, or statisticians. But data is all around us: anytime you use your smartphone, log into a social media site, or listen to music online, you leave a slew of datasets in your wake. Data literacy can prepare you for a range of careers across industry, the cultural heritage sector, and more—all without ever touching a programming language. This course will equip students with the skills necessary to work with the full lifecycle of data: collection, description, organization, cleaning, analysis, and distribution. Methods and tools covered will include web scraping, metadata standards, Google Open Refine, qualitative analysis, and Looker Studio. No previous experience with programming or data analysis necessary. We’ll focus, especially, on working with data drawn from the humanities, which tends to be messy, understudied, and scarce.
Specifications grading
In this course, we’ll use something called Specifications Grading.1 The goals of the system are to reduce the stress and mystery of grades while also raising academic standards. It is more important to me that you explore and experiment with these methods than it is that you get the “right answer.” It’s hard to feel comfortable experimenting and making mistakes if you’re worried about every little point.
Each assignment is marked as Complete/Incomplete according to a set of specifications as listed for each week. The primary criteria for evaluation is whether you demonstrate a good faith effort to excel with the task at hand (in other words, trying really hard and having trouble with technology still counts!). You must complete a fixed of assignments to receive the corresponding grade, as seen in the table below. This means that your grade is always going up as you complete more assignments. It also means that you must complete the requisite number of assignments to a particular grade. You will use Canvas to turn in assignments and to receive feedback, and I will mark your assignments as complete/incomplete in that system.
The course consists of 15 assignments due 9:00AM each Friday morning. In the first half of the course, these weekly assignments practice the current topic under discussion. In the second half of the course, these weekly assignments involve scaffolded group contributions to your final projects as well as reflections on your individual learning that week. More specific descriptions and expectations for each assignment will be listed on the page for each week.
Your final grade for the course, will be calculated based on your total number of assignments completed:
| Assignments Completed | Letter Grade |
| 15 | A |
| 14 | A- |
| 13 | B+ |
| 12 | B |
| 11 | B- |
| 10 | C+ |
| 9 | C |
| 8 | C- |
| 1-7 | D |
Late Assignments
Because the course moves quickly and builds on itself, it’s important to get your assignments in on time. If this becomes a problem, reach out to Brandon to discuss to see if we can work out alternatives for you.
Attendance
You are allowed one absence in the course. Please let me know ASAP if you have issues. Once you have more than one absence, it will decrease your letter grade by 1/3 (B to B-, etc.). In addition, it is important to show up for each other in every sense of the word. Presence in the course each day involves active participation in both your group project, discussion, and more.