Basic Foundations of Data Science. 3 credits, 3 contact hours

Catalog description

Prerequisites: No prerequisites are required to enroll. Data Science (DS) and artificial intelligence (AI) systems are increasingly being deployed in real-world applications across domains, significantly impacting our daily and social lives. It is critical to ensure that students have a good understanding of the new era of the DS/AI-human-centric world. That will lead to a broader adoption of DS/AI in real-world applications in practice. This course will provide an insightful understanding of recent data science (DS) and artificial intelligence (AI) developments. Students will learn basic program skills in Python and enable a venture through basic building blocks of data structures, data collection, processing, and generating. Using data visualization tools, students will learn to analyze real-world datasets across domain applications. Students will explore the ethics of AI abstractly and comprehensively, ranging from societal risks, regulations, and responsible technologies in AI. Hands-on labs are developed to align basic knowledge and practical skills in DS/AI. As a result, the course is designed to offer an appropriate entry point into the vibrant world of DS/AI for students with no background in computing so that students can diversify and strengthen their career paths by using DS/AI appropriately and optimally.