Independent learning plan

By mid-semester, you will submit an independent learning plan so that we can be sure that you are on the right track.

The independent learning plan should include:

  • a one paragraph description of the data science content that you intend to learn about during the course of the semester. Normally, this will include topics required by your project that are not part of the typical SDS curriculum. Examples from previous classes include: survival analysis, natural language processing, regular expressions, Shiny, Oracle, Twitter API, etc. Normally, domain knowledge is not really applicable here. [All projects will involve some acquisition of domain knowledge, but here we are interested in the data science content.] The more specific you can be about materials you will use (e.g., journal papers, book chapters, DataCamp courses, etc.), the better.

Rubric

Independent learning plan rubric
Criteria Zero One Two
Overall Quality No submission. The plan identifies one data science topic, but the relevance or appropriateness of the topic to the project is not clear. Resources to support this learning are not specified clearly. The plan identifies at least one relevant and appropriate data science topic. The plan cites specific resources to support learning on that topic.

Independent learning assessment

Reflecting on the plan you submitted mid-semester, describe the independent learning you did for this class. It is OK if your learning deviated from the plan.

This should include two parts:

  1. one paragraph describing a data science topic that you learned about (see above). Give a very short description of the topic and describe what you learned. Cite references for the specific materials you used.
  2. one paragraph describing your efforts on the group project. What was your involvement? What aspects did you focus on? How well did your group work together? What did you learn about medium-term collaborative projects?

Rubric

Independent learning assessment rubric
Criteria Three Four Five
Overall Quality I believe that you learned something, but your explanation doesn’t make it clear what it was. You identified what you learned, but the description was rather vague and there weren’t a lot of specifics. Wow, you really learned a lot and were able to clearly articulate what and how you learned.