Course Syllabus

Full Syllabus available at course github: http://howisonlab.github.io/datawrangling/

Update for Online Learning in Spring 2020 

Here are my plans for this course for the rest of semester. I'm sure you know that we will not being meeting in person again this semester, as campus is closed. Of course check https://coronavirus.utexas.edu/ for full details. I'm sad about this and look forward to seeing everyone again when we can.

For the remainder of the semester, we are going to use a combination of:

• asynchronous materials (webpages as before, pre-recorded screencasts, and curated online exercises)
• synchronous small group Zoom calls for personalized instruction and feedback (which you'll sign up for in advance).

The asynchronous materials will be linked from our course schedule, as materials were prior to this change, https://howisonlab.github.io/datawrangling/#schedule_of_class_meetings. I am reviewing and enhancing everything, and will be adding links to DataCamp modules (assigned through the DataCamp system) and materials from Library Carpentry. If you have not accepted the DataCamp invite, please do so.

For the Zoom calls, my plan is to support maximum flexibility for you all. I will make appointment times available for you to sign up to for Zoom instruction and feedback. I'll certainly have some in our class periods, but I will also have some outside those periods, to accommodate working around family responsibilities (or timezones, if anyone has headed home). I encourage you to join up with two or three people regularly, perhaps two project teams would make an ideal group. Appointments will be for 30 minutes, but you can attend more than one. You are not required to sign up for these sessions. I'm still experimenting with appointments, but I have enabled the Scheduler in Canvas, see student sign up guidance here: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10580-4212716665 Please give me feedback about that system. You should be able to see who has signed up for a session, so please try to pick sessions with people you know. Start a new session if individual time needed, but do me a favor and if at all possible pick one close to other times?  I suspect we'll settle into a routine for these which will help us all :)

In addition we will have small group Zoom calls to discuss your projects, so that'll be time with me and your project group. We will start those in the week of April 6. Our projects draw on skills that we will learn in the next weeks, so it is expected every semester to take a pause on the group projects this time of semester. In fact, projects really come together in the last two weeks, once we've all gone over the needed materials are available. I intend those to also be done via the Scheduler (which allows groups to sign up).

You will continue to use the Docker setup on your laptop, as before. The university has created a special fund to help students with access to laptops and internet. Details are available on the Dean of Students site: https://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/about/coronavirus.php As of March 26 that page is linking to this PDF with full details: https://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/about/downloads/TechnologySupportForRemoteLearning.pdf Please take advantage of this if you are facing any challenges at all, alumni and other Longhorns are donating new funds especially for this, they really want to help a large group of students and they have the funds to do it. That is also the contact for other help, including the possibility of emergency housing.

There will continue to be weekly assignments, I am relaxing the grading policy to acknowledge changed circumstances, by allowing five "drops" rather than the previous three. The official due times will be unchanged, still Sunday night at midnight. As before I will post solutions on Tuesday mornings, and provide feedback in the small group Zoom sessions. Because the solutions will be posted, I can't give credit for submissions after Monday night, but I will grade and give feedback on late submissions received before then. 

Note: Class recordings are reserved only for the use of members of this class (students, TAs, and the instructor) and only for educational purposes. Recordings should not be shared outside the class in any form. Violation of this restriction could lead to Student Misconduct proceedings.