COMPSCI 390B Harnessing Data Science for Societal Good

This is a project-based course in which students will explore using large-scale datasets and data analysis to address real-world societal problems in domains such as sustainability, health, and work with different techniques of data analysis and processing. Students will address problems of societal or industrial relevance. Each semester, the course will offer one or more real-world datasets and a selection of sample problems and students will define a project based on these datasets to address a real-word problem in a group setting. Students will collaborate in groups for their project. Students will explore modern data processing tools and software systems to build data processing pipelines for their chosen project. Throughout the course, students will be expected to present their project ideas, develop project proposals outlining their implementation plans, and conclude with a final presentation and report submission. This course provides students with the opportunity to integrate their analytical and collaborative skills for real-world problem-solving. This course counts as a CS Elective toward the CS Major.

Organization

  • Prerequisites: COMPSCI 230 AND COMPSCI 240 (OR STATISTC 315, PREVIOUSLY STATISTC 515), both with a grade of C or better.
  • Eligibility: Juniour and Senior CS majors only.
  • Meeting Days/Times: TT 10:00-11:15 am
  • Office Hours: TBD
  • Syllabus: Here you can find the tentative syllabus and the schedule. Kindly note the schedule is tentative and subject to change.

Accommodation Statement

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing an equal educational opportunity for all students. If you have a documented physical, psychological, or learning disability on file with Disability Services (DS), you may be eligible for reasonable academic accommodations to help you succeed in this course. If you have a documented disability that requires an accommodation, please notify me within the first two weeks of the semester so that we may make appropriate arrangements.

Academic Honesty Statement

Since the integrity of the academic enterprise of any institution of higher education requires honesty in scholarship and research, academic honesty is required of all students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Academic dishonesty is prohibited in all programs of the University. Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to: cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and facilitating dishonesty. Appropriate sanctions may be imposed on any student who has committed an act of academic dishonesty. Instructors should take reasonable steps to address academic misconduct. Any person who has reason to believe that a student has committed academic dishonesty should bring such information to the attention of the appropriate course instructor as soon as possible. Instances of academic dishonesty not related to a specific course should be brought to the attention of the appropriate department Head or Chair. Since students are expected to be familiar with this policy and the commonly accepted standards of academic integrity, ignorance of such standards is not normally sufficient evidence of lack of intent (http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/acadhonesty/ ).