Geographic Data Science

Introduction
Dani Arribas-Bel

This course

(Self-)Quiz

  • Have you ever used data to make decisions in your life?
  • Have you ever heard the term “Data Science”?
  • Have you ever written a line of computer code?

Philosophy

  • (Lots of) methods and techniques
    • General overview
    • Intuition
    • Very little math
    • Lots of ways to continue on your own
  • Emphasis on the application and use
  • Close connection to “real world” applications

Format

Eight blocks with:

  • Concepts: videos + slides, readings
  • Hands-on: concepts in (interactive) action
  • Do-It-Yourself: practical material to do on your own

Content

  • Blocks A-C: “big picture” content + computational tools (learning curve)
  • Blocks D-H: “meat” of the course (lots of concepts packed)
  • Rest of the course: prepare an awesome Computational Esssay

Logistics - Website

https://darribas.org/gds_course

Logistics - Teams

Team

Code

Driving Vs automobile engineering

Python

Python

    • General purpose programming language
    • Sweet spot between “proof-of-concept” and “production-ready”
    • Industry standard: GIS (Esri, QGIS) and Data Science (Google, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, The New York Times, NASA…)

Self-directed learning

Prepare

  • This is a flipped class: it’s like a gym, the “subscription” does not make you fit
  • Bring questions, comments, feedback, (informed) rants to Teams/labs
  • Teams, Teams, Teams
  • Collaborate (it’s NOT a zero-sum win!!!)

More help!!!

This course is much more about “learning to learn” and problem solving rather than acquiring specific programming tricks or stats wizardry

  • Learn to ask questions (but don’t expect exact answers all the time!!!)
  • Help others as much as you can (the best way to learn is to teach)
  • Search heavily on Google + Stack Overflow

Workflow - Before a Lab

  1. Go over the Concepts and Hands-on sections of a block
  2. Get started on the DIY
  3. Record questions and post them on Teams prior to the lab

Workflow - Online Labs

  1. Come work on the DIY sections
  2. Live answers to questions posted
  3. Support from demonstrators and module lead

Assignments

Assignments

  • Computer tests: W.5 (20%) and W.10 (25%)
  • Computational essay (W.12, 50%)
    • Equivalent to 2,500 word
    • Report (notebook) with code, figures (e.g. maps), and text
  • Discussion board (5%)

NOTE: recommendation letters only for great students (>70)

Creative Commons License
A Course on Geographic Data Science by Dani Arribas-Bel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.