What to expect

This is an exercise in learning together, which demands doing together. We’ll spend some of our time developing common skills and knowledge (particularly in the early weeks); some of our time discussing our progress, generating ideas, and providing feedback; and some of our time actively working on the project, exploring data, developing solutions, and documenting our work (more so in the later weeks).

Grading

The lab is worth 1 credit hour, and will be graded on the following basis:

• Contributions during Friday’s lab times (33%). Come prepared, chime in with ideas and ask questions during our discussion time, help develop solutions during our hacking time, complete work you’ve agreed to in the in between times. Lab members will have a chance to evaluate the contributions of one another as well.
• Submission of a weekly progress report, beginning February 2 (33%). By Friday at 10am, each lab member should send an email to the collab list with two short bullet points (one to four sentences each) summarizing:
  • Progress made in the last week – did you explore the data, other data sources, or background material (what did you find)? Did you stew on a sticking point and consider solutions (with what outcomes)? Did you delve further into tools we’re using or could use (to what end)? Just give me the highlights of your efforts in the past week.
  • What’s on deck for next week – what problem do you hope to solve, steps do you plan to take, information you intend to seek before next Friday? This won’t always pan out, and that’s okay; it’s still important to have a plan.
• Final presentation (33%). Communicating our results to the client, primarily via a written report (though we might be able to schedule an oral presentation with the clients as well). This will be a collective effort; we’ll break the report into sections mid-way through and everyone should contribute in some way.