Most, if not all, of today’s grand challenges (e.g., food, water and energy security) can be described spatially from regional to global scales and, while several individual disciplines contend to address these challenges, there is one key factor that they all have in common: the need for data. Despite our being in an age rich in data, many of the critical datasets needed for our understanding and prediction of our world are, in fact, quite limited.
In this capstone course, you will get the opportunity to utilize your Python programming skills (writing scripts and creating subroutines) to connect to various types of data (e.g., GeoJSON, ASC, HDF5 and NetCDF), synthesize these data to unlock new understanding (using methods such as spatial scaling and gap-filling), create visualizations using open-source GIS software, and present to the world your own story of spatial data discovery professionally written for the web. I will take you through my own journey of data discovery, provide you with the know-how for accessing large data repositories, demonstrate methods for data harmonizing, processing, modeling and visualizing, and challenge you to think spatially.
Integrated Science Center Room 1111
*some classes may be held remotely
See Code of Conduct regarding how these communication platforms are (and should be) used.
Laptop (required)
* Your laptop should have at least 500 MB of free disk space, have at least 8 GB of memory, and run a modern desktop OS (e.g,. PC, Mac, or Linux).
* Note that you are also required to read, write and execute Python code, whether installed natively on your computer or via a cloud computing platform (e.g., JupyterHub or Google Colaboratory)
GitHub account (required)
W&M Blackboard (required)
Slack account (recommended)
Announcements, discussions, course calendar, grades, etc., may be accessed through the university’s Blackboard; please make certain you have access to it.
Coding exercises, markdown documents and associated files should be submitted using Git to one of two repositories found on the class’s GitHub Page.
* You will need to create a GitHub account, if you do not already have one.
* You are granted write access to both the semester and organization repositories; with power comes responsibility—please use it wisely!
Scripting assignments will be tested and graded using Python 3.8; please be sure you have a recent version installed.
Web development assignments will be requested in Markdown syntax; your instructor will compile your Markdown using the latest releases of R and pandoc.
* While you are not required to use R or pandoc, you may install these software packages to test your markdown pages before submitting.
Geographic visualizations will be rendered using either the latest stable release or the university’s current installed version of QGIS or Panoply. Please indicate the software versions you install to your professor.
* All software used in this class are available for all major OSs (e.g., Linux, macOS, and Windows) and are available under free software licenses. QGIS is available in select campus computer labs (check for availability).
The College 400 capstone experience requires students to take initiative in synthesis and critical analysis, to solve problems in an applied and/or academic setting, to create original material or original scholarship, and to communicate effectively with a diversity of audiences. In this capstone course, students will take on these challenges through the lens of spatial data science.
Students will learn how to access, read, and parse disparate data sources from a variety of open-access international, governmental, and private organizational databases and will learn about the broad challenges associated with spatial data. Students will have an opportunity to tackle these issues using a variety of analytical and statistical techniques. Students will communicate their findings through the web by creating a visualization accompanied by a written summary.
Never be afraid to show your colleagues your work. If you are afraid to, that’s probably the bigger sign that something is wrong with your code and that you already know it.”
– N. Schweitzer (2008), Software Consultant, Wauwatosa, WI.
The following are the proposed topics to be covered in this class along with some example discussions.
This class structure will be twofold:
Anytime you devote to practice, you haven’t lost. You’re a winner.”
– Bob Ross
This course will consist of the following tasks.
The completion (or attempted completion) of all these tasks will result in at least a passing grade (D). A failure of any one of these tasks will result in a failing grade (F) for the course.
The following definitions will be used to determine a failure status for any task listed under the Course Requirements.
Discussions will be held, on average, once a week. A student that misses 50% or more of the discussions (e.g., six or more) will receive a failing grade.
Most thinking involves collaborating with other people. That’s why scientists have lab meetings, why doctors consult with specialists, and why it’s important to have someone to talk to when you’re confused or upset. […] A little social support can generate a lot of confidence.”
– Steven Sloman, Professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences at Brown University
This course is graded on a 100-point scale. The distribution of these points are awarded across the following five tasks. Students may choose either the Final Exam or the Discovery Project as their majority grade (i.e., 75%). Whichever task is chosen for the majority grade, the lower percentage weight will be given to the other task (i.e., 1%). Students are expected choose which task will be their majority grade before taking the final exam.
Final Exam (1% or 75%): Students are asked to complete a singe-submission comprehensive final exam on Blackboard, which is due no later than at the end of the scheduled exam period determined by the university registrar.
Weekly Quizzes (15%): Students are asked to complete the 15 weekly quizzes, which are designed as preparation for the final exam (i.e., quiz 16). Each quiz is a cumulative assessment (it takes into consideration each previous quiz) and is assessed with equal weighting. The due date for all quizzes is the end of final exam period. Each quiz may be attempted multiple times, allowing for practice and/or improvement, where the highest grade from all attempts is recorded. A grade of at least 60% must be achieved for a quiz to be considered completed. All quizzes must be completed in order (no skipping).
Classroom Discussions (5%): Students are asked to engage in weekly discussions, where various topics, methods, theories, approaches and ideas are debated and discussed. In most cases, discussions will take place during class. Each discussion week, a student is expected to act as the scribe, taking notes of the classroom discussion and posting them online for anyone who misses class or has something more to add to the conversation. Participation is defined as engaging in either the classroom or online discussion post, which should be made within 10 working days of the discussion’s original posting. Follow-ups, clarifications, or additions may be submitted at any time. Students that participate in at least 12 discussions (or ten discussions and act as a scribe at least once) receive credit for this task.
Work Journal (4%): Students are asked to keep a semester-long journal of both their in and out of class activities. This type of journal is intended to improve organization and time management skills and is often utilized in industry for the completion of time sheets or billable hours. Students are asked to submit weekly updates of their work journal, which should include at minimum:
A student completing at least 12 weekly journal entries receives credit for this task.
Discovery Project (1% or 75%): Students are to create content for a public-facing website that shares their discovery of data using various sources, methods, and visualization techniques. Goals of this project include:
To complete the project, the following will be assessed:
Students will be required to submit parts of their final project by email and to both the Organization Repository and Semester Repository. Information about what materials should be submitted (and how) are given in the README of the project folder in the Semester Repository.
The final letter grade is based on the point total of completed Grading Components. The range for each letter grade is given in the following table (three-point ranges for intermediate steps and four-point ranges for whole letter grades). The expectations of students for selected grade levels are also described below.
The instructor reserves the right to adjust a student’s final grade by one-half step (e.g., a student that received a score that would give them a C, it could be raised to a C+ or lowered to a C–), so long as the final grade is not lowered below a D or raised higher than an F.
| Letter | Quantitative | Qualitative |
|---|---|---|
| A | >93.0 | Superior mastery |
| A– | 90.0–92.99 | |
| B+ | 87.0–89.99 | |
| B | 83.0–86.99 | Good mastery |
| B– | 80.0–82.99 | |
| C+ | 77.0–79.99 | |
| C | 73.0–76.99 | Satisfactory achievement |
| C– | 70.0–72.99 | |
| D+ | 67.0–69.99 | |
| D | 60.0–66.99 | Less-than-satisfactory achievement |
| F | <60.0 | Unsatisfactory achievement |
In this classic fifteen week semester, each week will consist of at least one discussion topic with associated readings and responses and up to one “sandbox challenge” assignment. These ungraded assignments are meant to stimulate your creativity and problem-solving skills that will help you with addressing the graded assignments and final project.
The schedule for discussion meetings, lectures, and assignments is posted online here. The dates in the calendar are tentative; all changes to the schedule will be announced in class and through Blackboard’s announcement service and Slack. Students are responsible for ensuring an awareness of any such announcements. In other words: you must read your campus email and check Blackboard and Slack regularly!
By the basis in which this class is designed, these things hold true:
Remember these things as you work together:
“Don’t ascribe maliciousness to that which can be explained by inadvertence.”
This comes from the fact that it is almost impossible to portray our feelings or intended meaning behind typed text. If something offends you, take a breath, be cordial and ask for clarification before unleashing your wrath (BTW: you shouldn’t unleash your wrath). That being said, also do not be a silent witness. If something offends you, let everyone know. We will never learn from our mistakes if our mistakes are never pointed out. If malicious actions continue, the instructor will manage it.
“There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.”
You are a college student registered in a college class. You are not expected to know everything. The entire purpose of this exercise is for you to gain knowledge, so make an effort. If you want to try something, try it and let everyone know what you are up to. Best case scenario, your innovations spark new insight. Worst case scenario, we all learn something from your efforts. It’s better to aim high for something that will make a difference rather than to play it safe with something easy.
Ask lots of questions.
Questions are cheap, so ask a lot of them. When asking questions, remember to always strive for clarity. If you don’t know something or your aren’t sure, just ask. Sometimes, knowing the right question to ask is just as difficult as finding the answer. When you find yourself here, please send up a flare or simply say “I’m lost.” We will get you back on track.
Focus on opportunities.
Remember: this is not a race and you are not a judge, so don’t get caught up with critiquing or competing with each other. Provide your opinions and perspectives and then actually take the time to read the opinions and perspectives of others. Challenge yourself to see things differently and try things differently. Ignore your desire to be correct or to correct someone else and try not to contradict people; they don’t like it and biologically it shuts down their ability to see things logically.
Document and share everything.
Reproducible science should not be an afterthought and neither should the reproducibility of your coursework. While it may feel natural to keep your work private, in the real world projects really thrive when you document your process publicly. Have you ever searched for answers on the internet? Did it help? By writing things down and sharing them, more people can participate along the way and you might get help on something you didn’t even know you needed. This leads to more things being documented, which produces a better project roadmap, which leads to better transparency and feedback, which leads to good decision-making and faster/better results.
Everyone is bound to uphold a policy of respect for their instructor and their peers. Students should be open-minded to new ideas and participate in collegiate debate, the sharing of ideas, and the receiving of feedback without defamatory remarks. Students should help maintain a healthy learning environment by refraining from negative behavior, such as harmful remarks, quibbling over trivial matters, creating unnecessary debates, or bullying.
There is zero tolerance for negative behavior. Failure to uphold this policy will result in punitive action and/or removing the offending student from access to all or part of the class.
In this class, there is a scheduled time and place for weekly meetings. Engagement is therefore defined loosely as your interaction with the instructor either by coming to class or using one or more of the communication tools listed above (see Communication).
It is expected that you interact weekly through class attendance, posted discussions, chats, issues, emails, and/or video conferencing. Failure to do so may influence your final grade (see Failure Criteria).
Please make any and all planned absences (e.g., field trips, vacations, athletic events) that would result in you not being able to meet this minimum interaction known to your instructor at the earliest possible time.
By accepting admission to the College, you have made a commitment to understand, support, and abide by the Honor Code. Violations, whether attempted or successful, will result in consequences ranging from a grade of zero for the assignment up to a failing grade for the class.
Misconduct may include, but is not limited to, the following:
You are free (and encouraged) to create your own chat groups with classmates for better/faster communication. Please do not use the instant messenger for spamming, soliciting or otherwise disrupting the peace. The instructor is free to mute any and all messages during “unsociable” hours and therefore, may not always respond instantly; you are free to do the same.
For specific questions, raise an issue on GitHub. For private inquiries, please email the instructor; the instructor will confirm each email received. If you do not receive a confirmation message from the instructor within 12 hours of sending, you may send a follow-up email.
Weekly quizzes and the final exam become unavailable following the final hour of the scheduled final exam period.
Weekly discussion responses should not exceed 10 working days following their initial posting. Original submissions to discussion posts (e.g., not a follow-up to a question or a clarification) occurring after the 10 working day limit that did not receive prior permission for late submission may not be counted as complete.
Students are expected to create two web pages for the course website: (1) about the coder and (2) spatial data discovery. Errors in formatting, omissions of content, or other issues may be flagged by the instructor for correction. Please respond within three (3) business days with the requested corrections or a request for an extension (providing reasoning).
Students may keep cellular phones on, but they should be kept in silent mode (please note that vibrate is not silent). In the case of an emergency, students are requested to quietly excuse themselves from the classroom to make and/or receive telephone calls. Please abstain from any disruptive behavior, the definition of which is at the discretion of the instructor and may include but is not limited to playing video games, listening to music, trolling the internet, or any other activity whereby the sight or sound interrupts the attention of those around you.
Multiple offenders may be asked to leave the classroom and will be considered equivalent to an unexcused absence.
Due to privacy laws/concerns, the recording of people and/or their voices during class meetings in any form is prohibited without unanimous approval except in documented cases from the Academic Support office that require compliance with the ADA.
William & Mary accommodates students with disabilities in accordance with federal laws and university policy. Any student who feels they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a learning, psychiatric, physical, or chronic health diagnosis should contact Student Accessibility Services staff at 757-221-2512 or at sas@wm.edu to determine if accommodations are warranted and to obtain an official letter of accommodation. For more information, please see https://www.wm.edu/sas.
If you need accommodations, you have a right to have these met, so it is best to notify the instructor as soon as possible.
Your enrollment in this class means that you grant a “no rights reserved” license to the instructor, the Data Science Program, and the university on all works submitted towards the completion of this class.
Please be certain to attribute with a date and author all works submitted.