Department of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics

Course Syllabus (Official)#

Below is the official Course Syllabus for DATA 550.

Course Instructor#

Name: Dr. Firas Moosvi (he/his/him)

Office: SCI 393

Phone: N/A

For information on how to contact your course instructor, including office hours, see the course website.

Mode of Delivery: Online (All course activities and assessments, including the Final Exam, will be conducted Online.)

Course Description#

DATA 550 (1) Dataviz I

The UBCO calendar description of this course is:

Data visualization to produce graphs and images. Advanced data analysis on spreadsheets. Credit will be granted for only one of DATA 301 or DATA 550. Restricted to students in the MDS program.

Prerequisite: All of DATA 530, DATA 531.

Corequisite: N/A

Course Format#

This course has Lectures, Labs, Projects will all be running online in this course.

You will find all the important term dates in the UBCO Academic Calendar.

Important Details#

Name

Description

Course

DATA 550

Term

2021 Winter Term 2

Instructor

Dr. Firas Moosvi (he/his/him)

Lectures

Monday, Wednesday from 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM: Online Via Zoom

Labs

Wednesdays 13:30 pm - 15:30 pm: Online Via Zoom

Student Hours

To get live 1 on 1 help in the course, use Zoom at various times (see below for schedule).

Canvas URL

https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/86767

Course Discussion

To ask any course-related questions, use private (personal, not useful for anyone else) or public (helpful for other) messages on Slack

What do I need to purchase for this course?#

Being very conscious of the high tuition and technology costs, we have made efforts to remove the additional cost of taking this course. All course content, references, and resources provided in this course are free and open source, and can be considered open educational resources (OER).

Contact Us#

Team Member

Pronounce as

Contact

Student Hour

Dr. Firas Moosvi (he/his/him); Instructor

Fur-az Moose-vee

Contact via Slack

Thursdays 12:30 - 13:30

Amanat

Contact via Slack

TBD

Evaluation#

The grading scheme for this course is here:

Item

Weight

Due Date

Lab 1

12.5%

Wednesday Jan 19 at 18:00

Lab 2

12.5%

Wednesday Jan 26 at 18:00

Mini Project 1

25%

Friday Jan 28 at 18:00

Lab 3

12.5%

Wednesday Feb 2 at 18:00

Lab 4

12.5%

Wednesday Feb 9 18:00

Mini Project 2

25%

Wednesday Feb 9 at 18:00

Attention

All (non-quiz) deadlines in this course have an automatic 48 hour grace period after the due dates listed above. Any submissions submitted past the grace period will not be graded.

Note

Important: The maximum mark you can get on each item is 100%. Any available bonus marks are not transferable to other assignments.

Passing requirements#

Yes. To pass this course, you must:

  • Achieve an average of at least 60% in the quizzes.

  • Achieve an average of at least 60% across all labs

  • Achieve an average of at least 60% on the project(s).

If students do not satisfy the appropriate requirements, the student will be assigned the lower of their earned course grade or, a maximum overall grade of 45% in the course.

Please refer to the UBCO Calendar for additional details for program-wide passing requirements.

In particular:

60% is the minimum passing grade for master’s students; however, only 6 course credits with grades from 60-67% may be counted toward a master’s program. For all other courses, students must obtain a minimum of 68%.

Schedule#

Course Schedule#

Class #

Date

Course Topics

Format

1

Monday January 10

Introduction to Data Visualization

Live Class (via Zoom)

2

Wednesday January 12

Importance of Data Visualizations

Live Class (via Zoom)

3

Monday January 17

Visual encodings and plot configuration

Live Class (via Zoom)

4

Wednesday January 19

Visualizing distributions fairly

Live Class (via Zoom)

5

Monday January 24

No Class

N/A

6

Wednesday January 26

No Class

N/A

5

Monday January 31

Principles of Effective Visualizations

Live Class (via Zoom)

6

Wednesday February 2

Trendlines, confidence intervals, and composite figures

Live Class (via Zoom)

7

Monday February 7

Seaborn Tutorial (Recorded Video)

N/A

8

Wednesday February 9

Q&A on Zoom

Live Q&A (via Zoom)

Learning Intentions#

Lecture 1 - Introduction to Data Visualization#

  1. Explain the importance of data visualizations.

  2. Describe the differences between Imperative and Declarative programming.

  3. Create basic visualizations in Altair.

Lecture 2 - Importance of data Visualizations#

Coming soon…

Lecture 3 - Visual encodings and plot configuration#

  1. Choose effective visual encodings.

  2. Visualize frequencies with bar plots.

  3. Facet to explore more variables simultaneously.

  4. Customize axes labels and scales.

  5. Introduced to Exploratory Data Analysis

Lecture 4 - Visualizing distributions fairly#

  1. Visualize distributions.

  2. Understand how different distribution plots are made and their pros and cons.

  3. Select an appropriate distribution plot for the situation.

  4. Grasp EDA on a conceptual levels both for numerical and categorical variables.

  5. Create density plots to compare a few distributions.

  6. Create boxplots and violin plot to compare many distributions.

  7. Use repeated plot grids to investigate multiple data frame columns in the same plot.

  8. Visualize correlations and counts of categorical variables.

Lecture 5 - Principles of Effective Visualizations#

  1. Follow guidelines for best practices in visualization design.

  2. Avoid over-plotting via 2D distribution plots.

  3. Adjust axes extents and formatting.

  4. Modify titles of several figure elements.

Lecture 6 - Colours#

  1. Choose appropriate color schemes for your data.

  2. Use pre-made and custom color schemes.

  3. Selectively highlight and annotate data with color and text.

  4. Directly label data instead of using legends.

Lecture 7 - Trendlines, confidence intervals, and composite figures#

  1. Visualize pair-wise differences using a slope plot.

  2. Visualize trends using regression and loess lines.

  3. Create and understand how to interpret confidence intervals and confidence bands.

  4. Telling a story with data (reading only)

  5. Layout plots in panels of a figure grid.

  6. Save figures outside the notebook.

  7. Understand figure formats in the notebook.

  8. Retrieve info on further topics online.

Lecture 8 - Seaborn Tutorial#

  1. Practice using Seaborn to make data visualizations.

The best way to get personalized help in this course is to attend the labs and student hours we have scheduled for this course. They are all done on Zoom and this is time the TAs have set aside to help you! You may also use this time to talk to us about anything else related to data science as well. We would love to hear about you, what your interests are, and if you need any career advice.

A few other notes:

  • We will be using Slack for Announcements in this course.

  • For all course-related questions you can reach out to the teaching team including instructors and TAs via Slack.

  • You are encouraged to post questions publicly whenever possible so others can benefit. For private and personal issues, you can send private messages on Slack.

  • Any student may visit the student hour for any member of the teaching team (TA or instructor)! In other words, you can go to the student hour of ANY TA, not just the one whose lab/tutorial you are registered in.

Syllabus changes#

In this section, I will outline any changes that have been made to the syllabus as we go through the course. We will do our best to follow the plan outlined in this syllabus, but in case things go south, I will need to make adjustments to the contents and the schedule.

Any major changes to the syllabus (this page) will be documented here, as well as the date the change was made.

Change Date

Summary

Rationale

N/A

N/A

N/A

Learning Outcomes#

The Learning Outcomes for this course are:

More details about the course can be found on the course website.

Required Materials#

There is no requirement to purchase textbooks or any other materials for this course. Resources and materials for this course can be found on the course website.

Late Policy and Missed Assignments and Exams#

Deadlines in this course have a generous no-penalty 48 hour grace period so late submissions are not generally accepted. Missed Tests and Exams will be given a score of 0 unless prior arrangements are made with the course instructor. To contact the instructor for this course, use Slack. Details on deadlines and other course policies can be found on the course website.

Warning

The policies below are required by UBCO to be in the syllabus, some of them (such as the final exam period) do not apply to the MDS program.

Final Examinations#

The examination period for 2021 Winter Term 2 is . Except in the case of examination clashes and hardships (three or more formal examinations scheduled within a 24-hour period) or unforeseen events, students will be permitted to apply for out-of-time final examinations only if they are representing the University, the province, or the country in a competition or performance; serving in the Canadian military; observing a religious rite; working to support themselves or their family; or caring for a family member. Unforeseen events include (but may not be limited to) the following: ill health or other personal challenges that arise during a term and changes in the requirements of an ongoing job. Further information on Academic Concession can be found under Policies and Regulation in the Okanagan Academic Calendar.

Note

Note: Any requests for changes to final exam must be sent to the office of the Associate Dean of Students (fos.students.ubco@ubc.ca).

Grievances and Complaints Procedures#

A student who has a complaint related to this course should follow the procedures summarized below:

  • The student should attempt to resolve the matter with the instructor first. Students may talk first to someone other than the instructor if they do not feel, for whatever reason, that they can directly approach the instructor.

  • If the complaint is not resolved to the student’s satisfaction, the student should e-mail the Associate Head, Jeff Andrews jeff.andrews@ubc.ca or Khalad Hasan khalad.hasan@ubc.ca or the Department Head, Dr. John Braun at john.braun@ubc.ca.

Academic Integrity#

The academic enterprise is founded on honesty, civility, and integrity. As members of this enterprise, all students are expected to know, understand, and follow the codes of conduct regarding academic integrity. At the most basic level, this means submitting only original work done by you and acknowledging all sources of information or ideas and attributing them to others as required. This also means you should not cheat, copy, or mislead others about what is your work. Violations of academic integrity (i.e., misconduct) lead to the breakdown of the academic enterprise, and therefore serious consequences arise and harsh sanctions are imposed. For example, incidences of plagiarism or cheating may result in a mark of zero on the assignment or exam and more serious consequences may apply if the matter is referred to the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Discipline. Careful records are kept in order to monitor and prevent recurrences.

A more detailed description of academic integrity, including the University’s policies and procedures, may be found in the Academic Calendar

If you have any questions about how academic integrity applies to this course, please consult with your professor.

Grading Practices#

Faculties, departments, and schools reserve the right to scale grades in order to maintain equity among sections and conformity to University, faculty, department, or school norms. Students should therefore note that an unofficial grade given by an instructor might be changed by the faculty, department, or school. Grades are not official until they appear on a student’s academic record. If you have any questions about how academic integrity applies to this course, please consult with your professor.

Disability Assistance#

The Disability Resource Centre ensures educational equity for students with disabilities, injuries or illness. If you are disabled, have an injury or illness and require academic accommodations to meet the course objectives, visit our website for more information or contact the DRC at: drc.questions@ubc.ca.

Equity, Human Rights, Discrimination and Harassment#

UBC Okanagan is a place where every student, staff and faculty member should be able to study and work in an environment that is free from human rights based discrimination and harassment. If you require assistance related to an issue of equity, discrimination or harassment, please contact the Equity Office by phone (250.807.9291) or email (equity.ubco@ubc.ca), your administrative head of unit, and/or your unit’s equity representative.

Health & Wellness - UNC 337#

At UBC Okanagan health services to students are provided by Health and Wellness. Nurses, physicians and counsellors provide health care and counselling related to physical health, emotional/mental health and sexual/reproductive health concerns. As well, health promotion, education and research activities are provided to the campus community. If you require assistance with your health, please contact Health and Wellness in person (UNC 337) or by email (healthwellness.okanagan@ubc.ca) for more information or to book an appointment.

Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO)#

A safe and confidential place for UBC students, staff and faculty who have experienced sexual violence regardless of when or where it took place. Just want to talk? We are here to listen and help you explore your options. We can help you find a safe place to stay, explain your reporting options (UBC or police), accompany you to the hospital, or support you with academic accommodations. You have the right to choose what happens next. We support your decision, whatever you decide. Visit svpro.ok.ubc.ca or call us at 250.807.9640.

Independent Investigations Office (IIO)#

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault or some other form of sexual misconduct by a UBC community member and you want the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) at UBC to investigate, please contact the IIO. Investigations are conducted in a trauma informed, confidential and respectful manner in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness. You can report your experience directly to the IIO via email: director.of.investigations@ubc.ca or by calling 604.827.2060 or online by visiting investigationsoffice.ubc.ca.

The Hub#

The Student Learning Hub (LIB 237) is your go-to resource for free math, science, writing, and language learning support. The Hub welcomes undergraduate students from all disciplines and year levels to access a range of supports that include tutoring in math, sciences, languages, and writing, as well as help with study skills and learning strategies. For more information, please visit the Hub’s website (https://students.ok.ubc.ca/student-learning-hub/) or call 250-807-9185.

SAFEWALK#

Don’t want to walk alone at night? Not too sure how to get somewhere on campus?

Call Safewalk at 250.807.8076.

For more information, visit our website or download the UBC SAFE - Okanagan app.