Fall 2025: Academic Syllabus
Syllabus for CDSS 198: Data Discovery, Fall 2025.
Download the Fall 2025 syllabus (PDF)
Weekly Schedule¶
| 09/08 | Lecture w1-1 | Program orientation | |
| Lecture w1-2 | Understanding program and course expectations | ||
| Lecture w1-3 | Setting expectations & procedures for your Data Discovery project | ||
| Lecture w1-4 | Getting to know your team | ||
| Assignment w1-A | Mentoring agreement (due next week) |
| 09/15 | Lecture w2-1 | Working in teams | |
| Lecture w2-2 | Best practices for teamwork | ||
| Lecture w2-3 | Setting expectations and norms for collaboration | ||
| Assignment w2-A | Team collaborative plan (due next week) |
| 09/22 | Lecture w3-1 | Data life cycle | |
| Lecture w3-2 | Stages of a data research project | ||
| Lecture w3-3 | Where your project fits in the DS life cycle | ||
| Assignment w3-A | Begin work on context description (do not submit yet; continue next week) |
| 09/29 | Lecture w4-1 | Project life cycles | |
| Panel w4-2 | Panel: Project management | ||
| Lecture w4-3 | How your contribution fits into the overall project | ||
| Assignment w4-A | Describing your project in context (due next week) |
| 10/06 | Lecture w5-1 | Data descriptions | |
| Lecture w5-2 | Features and characteristics of data | ||
| Lecture w5-3 | Thinking about your project’s specific dataset(s) | ||
| Assignment w5-A | Data description (due next week) |
| 10/13 | Lecture w6-1 | Resourcefulness and problem-solving | |
| Panel w6-2 | Panel: Strategies for responding to challenges | ||
| Lecture w6-3 | Identifying strategies and resources to address problems | ||
| Lecture w6-4 | Developing resilience and perseverance | ||
| Assignment w6-A | Problem-solving strategies & resources list (due next week) |
| 10/20 | Lecture w7-1 | Evaluating progress and regrouping | |
| Lecture w7-2 | Team debriefing | ||
| Lecture w7-3 | Documenting & reflecting on mentor feedback | ||
| Assignment w7-A | Team debrief & reflection on mentor feedback (individual; due next week) |
| 10/27 | Lecture w8-1 | Time management and personal habits | |
| Lecture w8-2 | Evaluating current workflows | ||
| Lecture w8-3 | Campus strategies and resources | ||
| Assignment w8-A | Self study + Dear Data visualization (individual; due next week) |
| 11/03 | Lecture w9-1 | Reporting on projects | |
| Lecture w9-2 | Abstracts, conclusions, and citations | ||
| Assignment w9-A | Communicating with a non-expert (individual; due next week) |
| 11/10 | Lecture w10-1 | Communicating with visualizations | |
| Panel w10-2 | Panel: Creating and describing data visualizations | ||
| Lecture w10-3 | Planning visualizations for your presentation | ||
| Assignment w10-A | Preparing figures and tables for presentation (due next week) |
| 11/17 | Lecture w11-1 | Designing posters | |
| Lecture w11-2 | Goals and basics of a scientific poster | ||
| Lecture w11-3 | Deciding what to include in your poster | ||
| Assignment w11-A | Presentation abstract draft 1 (due next week) |
| 11/24 | Meeting w12-1 | Symposium info session (virtual; recorded; attendance optional) | |
| Lecture w12-2 | Expectations for the Symposium |
| 12/01 | Lecture w13-1 | Verbal communication | |
| Lecture w13-2 | Talking about your Data Discovery experience for future opportunities | ||
| Practice w13-3 | Practice oral presentations for the Symposium | ||
| Milestone w13-M1 | Project work ends — last class meeting | ||
| Deadline w13-DL | Poster submission to group order due by 11:59pm |
| 12/08 | Event w14-1 | Symposium on December 10 |
| 12/15 | Milestone w15-1 | Wrap-up / finals week (no scheduled class) |