Course syllabus
Table of contents
OCEAN 215 - Autumn 2020
- Instructors: Ethan Campbell (ethancc@uw.edu) and Katy Christensen (katyc4@uw.edu)
- Dates: October 1 - December 10, 2020
- Location: Zoom
- Times: Tuesday/Thursday 2:30–4:20 pm PT
Note: Email the instructors for a typeset PDF or LaTeX version of this syllabus for reuse.
Land acknowledgement
We acknowledge that this course is being taught and, for many of us, taken on the unceded traditional lands of Coast Salish peoples, particularly those of the Duwamish Tribe. We are grateful to respectfully live and work as guests on these lands with the Native people who call this home. This land acknowledgement is one small act in the ongoing process of working to be in good relationship with the people of the land and the land itself. An acknowledgment does not take the place of authentic relationships with Indigenous communities. If you are interested in supporting the Duwamish Tribe directly, we suggest visiting this link to Real Rent Duwamish: https://www.realrentduwamish.org.
Course mechanics
Introduction
As your instructors, we recognize that the circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic are challenging and far from ideal. We also understand that each person has a life outside of this course that can impact their education. Your physical well-being and your mental health are the top priorities for this quarter. Do not hesitate to reach out to your instructors (by email, in office hours, or during class) early and often to let us know if you need accommodations or extensions. While we hope that students will do their best to keep up with deadlines this quarter, we will be as flexible and understanding as possible for each person’s circumstance, and we ask that you try to do the same for us. Please treat your colleagues, your instructors, and yourselves with the utmost care; we are all human and we are all in this together.
Course objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to…
- Understand why the Python programming language is ideal for data analysis.
- Write, execute, and debug Python code.
- Access, read, transform, visualize, and interpret oceanographic data with confidence using Python.
- Explore the ever-expanding universe of packages and tools available for creating and sharing code.
- Formulate and investigate scientific research questions using programming and data analysis skills.
- Adopt best practices in programming and data visualization that facilitate collaboration and information-sharing, both within the classroom and the broader scientific community.
Community norms
We will take time in the first week of class to determine course expectations and community norms as a group. This will be saved as a Google document (linked here) as a reminder to all of us. As a teaching and learning community we will hold each other accountable for meeting these norms.
Course pages
Public links to the course Canvas, Google Drive, and Piazza resources have been removed here, as access is limited to Autumn 2020 students.
Office hours
Instructors will host virtual office hours on Zoom every Tuesday and Friday from 4:30–5:30 pm PT, or by appointment if needed, particularly if you would like to discuss confidential issues.
Prerequisites
No previous knowledge of Python, programming, or analysis techniques is assumed. Students should have access to a computer with an internet browser (e.g. Chrome, Safari, Firefox). Class will meet virtually using Zoom and all programming will be performed on the cloud in a browser window, so a reliable internet connection is essential. If this is an issue on a temporary basis, consider borrowing a wifi hotspot for 21 days for free using a Seattle Public Library card (SPL HotSpot details linked here). If this represents a longer-term challenge, please contact the instructors.
Required text
There are no required textbooks for this course.
Flipped lessons
Lessons will be approximately 30 minutes biweekly and will be presented in a flipped format. Lessons will be video-recorded ahead of time and distributed via Canvas. Slides and accompanying code will be provided along with the recordings. It is the responsibility of all students to watch the lesson before attending the corresponding class session on Zoom, as class time will be used for interactive activities and exercises, discussions, and group work on assignments and projects.
Class sessions
The class will meet via Zoom on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30–4:20 pm PT. If your internet is unstable and the audio and/or video are lagging, you can call in to join via audio only using the number in the student-facing syllabus document.
Policies
Absences
If you must miss class, please notify your instructors as soon as you can, ideally before the class.
Zoom logistics
- Please join class meetings using your computer, not a tablet or phone. The activities and programming we have planned do not work well on alternative devices.
- Cameras are not required to be on, but it is highly encouraged as it helps foster more interactivity and a better classroom community. If you feel the need to turn off your camera at any time, that is completely acceptable.
- Virtual backgrounds are allowed. We do request that your background is not a distraction to others or inappropriate in any way.
- Keep mics off except to speak. We encourage participation, so you do not have to “raise” your hand to speak. Note that holding down the space bar on Zoom allows you to unmute yourself temporarily.
- Consider using headphones/earbuds to reduce feedback when you unmute yourself to talk.
- Chat is an acceptable form of communication. If you feel uncomfortable speaking, using the Zoom chat function is a good alternative.
- Zoom meetings will be recorded to facilitate access for those in different time zones and those who have to miss class sessions. Note that Zoom recordings that include a student’s voice and/or face are an educational record protected by FERPA. Access to such recordings may need to be limited to the instructor and students enrolled in the specific class.
- Students will occasionally be asked to share their screen to show their code to instructors or other students. If you would prefer not to share when asked, please let us know.
- Consider adding your pronouns to your Zoom username to make our classroom a more inclusive space and to help your classmates and instructors refer to you correctly. Updating your preferred name by adding pronouns on Identity.UW will save you from changing your Zoom username each meeting.
Course honor code
The objective of this course is to inspire original thought and work in a collaborative environment. This course adopts the UW Computer Science academic misconduct policy (https://www.cs.washington.edu/academics/misconduct). This policy includes the following principles: collaborative thinking and Piazza discussions are encouraged, but you may not directly share code blocks with others, and you may not copy code blocks from others. Copying code and then modifying it (e.g. changing variable names) is also unacceptable. If you receive assistance from another student, an instructor, or online resources, you must indicate what assistance you received using a comment at the relevant location within your code. Your instructors reserve the right to use automated plagiarism detection software to compare your code with code written by other students.
Respect for the diversity of all students
We recognize that diverse backgrounds, embodiments, and experiences are essential to the critical thinking endeavor at the heart of university education. Because of this, we expect you to follow the UW Student Conduct Code in your interactions with us and your colleagues in this course by respecting the many social and cultural differences amongst us, which may include, but are not limited to: age, cultural background, disability, ethnicity, family status, gender identity and presentation, immigration status, national origin, race, religious and political beliefs, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and veteran status. There are many resources for students, instructors, and staff on campus, some of which you can find at: http://www.washington.edu/diversity/.
Religious accommodations
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).
Academic accommodations
If you anticipate or experience barriers to your learning or full participation in this course based on a physical, learning, or mental health disability, please immediately contact the instructor to discuss possible accommodation(s). A more complete description of the disability policy of the College of the Environment can be found at this link. If you have, or think you have, a temporary or permanent disability that impacts your participation in any course, please also contact Disability Resources for Students (DRS) at uwdss@uw.edu, or see more about policies at http://www.uw.edu/students/drs. Students must inform the instructor no later than the first week of the quarter of any accommodation(s) you will or may potentially require. Instructors will maintain strict confidentiality of any student’s disability and accommodation(s) and help all students meet the learning objectives of this course.
Coursework
Assignment #0
For this assignment, you will follow the instructions in the Assignment #0 document (linked here, or available on the Google Drive). The instructions will help you configure Piazza, introduce guidelines for using the Piazza Q&A board, and ask you to respond to the instructor questions posted in the Piazza folder ‘assignment0’.
Assignments #1-4
There will be 4 main assignments throughout the course. Students will have 2 weeks to complete each assignment. Assignments will be provided in the form of Google Colab notebooks (a version of Python Jupyter notebooks in which all computations are performed on Google’s servers, rather than your computer). Assignment notebooks will be made available in the shared class Google Drive folder and on Canvas (see ‘Course pages’ above). A version should be first copied to your individual Google Drive folder before starting work on it. When ready to submit the assignment, simply save it before the deadline, close the file, and keep it in your individual class Google Drive folder. For questions asking for code, grades will be assigned based on the correctness, functionality, and tidiness of the code; for non-coding questions, point allocations will be specified in the problem.
Late work policy for Assignments #1-4
Each student has a single grace period for any one assignment during the quarter. When used, this grace period grants the student an additional 2 weeks to complete the assignment without penalty to their grade. If a student has already used their grace period for the quarter, late work will be docked 10% per day that the assignment is overdue. If circumstances will prevent you from completing an assignment on time, please email the instructors prior to the assignment deadline for an extension. If a student has not communicated the need for an extension with the instructors, their grace period will automatically be used.
Piazza
Throughout the quarter we will be using Piazza (accessible via Canvas, or the link in ‘Course pages’ above) as the hub of discussions outside of class sessions. We ask that you post your coding questions to the Piazza Q&A board, rather than emailing the instructors with coding questions. To respond to a classmate’s question, write in the “students’ answer” section with your perspective. This section can be collaboratively edited by multiple students. You may also start follow-up discussions on a classmate’s post. By the end of the quarter, each student is required to have made at least 5 substantive contributions on Piazza, which may include questions, answers (including edits to the “students’ answer”), and/or follow-up posts. Contributions that do not add further insights (e.g. “Good work.”, “I agree.”, “I had the same problem.”, etc.) will not count towards the requirement. Additionally, posts for Assignment #0 or the final project data check-in do not count. Posts can be made anonymously to the class, but not to the instructors.
Final project
There will be an individually-directed final project. This assignment will allow students to investigate a scientific data set of their choice and showcase programming and analytical skills learned during the course. More details and a grading rubric will be provided soon. Project presentations will occur on the last week of the quarter. Students will submit their slides and code for the project for grading.
Exams
There are no exams for this course. There is no class at the scheduled final exam time.
Final course grade
- Assignments #0-4: 60% (12% each)
- Piazza posts: 15%
- Final project: 25%