For your final assignment in this course you will work on a month-long data science project. The goal of the project is to go through the complete data science process to answer questions you have about some topic of your own choosing. You will acquire the data, design your visualizations, run statistical analysis, and communicate the results.
You will work closely with other classmates in a team on this project. You can come up with your own teams and use Piazza to find prospective team members. If you can’t find a partner we will team you up randomly. We recognize that individual schedules, different time zones, preferences, and other constraints might limit your ability to work in a team. If this the case, ask us for permission to work alone. In general, we do not anticipate that the grades for each group member will be different. However, we reserve the right to assign different grades to each group member based on peer assessments (see below).
There are a few milestones for your final project. It is critical to note that no extensions will be given for any of the project due dates for any reason. Late days may not be used. Projects submitted after the final due date will not be graded. If you anticipate any issues (e.g., due to business travel) you need to send an email to the staff mailing list at least one week in advance.
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| Tuesday, October 23 | Team Registration due |
| Monday, November 17 by 2pm (EST) | Project proposals due |
| Week of November 17-21 | Project review meeting with your TF |
| Wednesday, December 10 by 11:59pm (EST) | IPython Process book due |
| Wednesday, December 10 by 11:59pm (EST) | Peer assessment due |
| Friday, December 12 by 11:59pm (EST) | Project webpage and screencast due |
| Tuesday, December 16 | Project presentations and best project prizes |
There are several deliverables for your project that will be graded individually to make up your final project score.
You start by filling out this google form to define your teams and a tentative project title. This form should be filled out by October 23, 2014. The title can be change at a later date.
Next, your team will submit this project proposal form by November 17, 2014 by 2pm EST. Each team will only need to submit one form. Based on your proposals we will assign a TF to your team who will guide you through the rest of the project. You will schedule a project review meeting with your TF during regular lecture times of the week marked in the schedule. Make sure all of your team members are present at the meeting. Online students can schedule a Skype meeting with their TF.
An important part of your project is your iPython process book. Your process book details your steps in developing your solution, including how you collected the data, alternative solutions you tried, describing statistical methods you used, and the insights you got. Equally important to your final results is how you got there! Your process book is the place you describe and document the space of possibilities you explored at each step of your project. We strongly advise you to include many visualizations in your process book.
Your process book should include the following topics. Depending on your project type the amount of discussion you devote to each of them will vary:
As this will be your only chance to describe your project in detail make sure that your process book is a standalone document that fully describes your process and results. The iPython Process book is due Wednesday December 10, 2014 by 11:59pm EST. For instructions on how to submit, please see Submission Instructions below.
We expect you to write high-quality and readable Python code in your process book. You should strive for doing things the right way and think about aspects such as reusability, error handling, etc. We also expect you to document your code.
It is important to provide positive feedback to people who truly worked hard for the good of the team and to also make suggestions to those you perceived not to be working as effectively on team tasks. We ask you to provide an honest assessment of the contributions of the members of your team, including yourself. The feedback you provide should reflect your judgment of each team member?s:
Your teammate’s assessment of your contributions and the accuracy of your self-assessment will be considered as part of your overall project score. The peer assessment is due due Wednesday December 10, 2014 by 11:59pm EST. For instructions on how to submit, please see Submission Instructions below.
You will create a public website for your project using Google Sites or Github Pages or any other web hosting service of your choice. The web site should effectively summarize the main results of your project and tell a story. Consider your audience (the site is public) and keep the level of discussion at the appropriate level. Your iPython process book and data should be linked to the web site as well, either using a zip file, github, bitbucket, or another code hosting site. Also embed your main visualizations and your screencast in your website.
The final project website is due Friday December 12, 2014 by 11:59pm EST. For instructions on how to submit, please see Submission Instructions below.
Each team will create a two minute screencast with narration showing a demo of your iPython process book and/or some slides. Information about how to prepare these screencasts can be found here. Please make sure that the sound quality of your video is good - it may be worthwhile to invest in an external USB microphone. Upload the video to an online video-platform such as YouTube or Vimeo and embed it into your project web page. We will show the best videos in class.
We will strictly enforce the two minute time limit for the video, so please make sure you are not running longer. Use principles of good storytelling and presentations to get your key points across. Focus the majority of your screencast on your main contributions rather than on technical details. What do you feel is the best part of your project? What insights did you gain? What is the single most important thing you would like your audience to take away? Make sure it is upfront and center rather than at the end.
The final project screen cast is due Friday December 12, 2014 by 11:59pm EST. For instructions on how to submit, please see Submission Instructions below.
Each individual team member needs to fill out this google form for the peer evaluation. Your individual project score will take into account this self and peer assessment.
Fill out this google form to submit the links to the website and screen cast. If we cannot access the website or screencast, we cannot grade it.
As stated in the syllabus, the final project is graded in two parts:
Your individual project score will also be determined by your peer evaluations.
Congratulations to all of our winners and honorable mentions!