Preparation

Tuesday 27th January

• Nothing specific for today but be aware that there's quite a bit for Thursday, all of which you can get started on now.

Thursday 29th January

• Think about why you are here! Come prepared to talk briefly about what you're hoping to get from the course and how it will feed into your wider academic or other interests.
• Make sure you can access the textbook, OpenIntro Statistics, 2nd ed.
• We'll be using the open source statistical computing package R. It is available for download at the R Project Homepage and you might want to use the RStudio interface for it (not required; we'll talk about why you might prefer to or not to in class). R is also available through a web-browser with a log-in to the CS machines (come and talk to me if you want to use this route). Make sure you can get it up and running and work through Lab 0.
• Read Misleading with Statistics: How Journalists make Arguments with Distorted Data and Infographics and Visualizations as Tools for the Mind.

Tuesday 3rd February

• Make sure that you've done the prep listed for 29th Jan.
• Remember to show up at 8.10am, not 8.30am. No! We're back to 8.30am, see email.

Thursday 5th Feb

• Work through Labs 0 and 1 ("Intro to R and RStudio" and "Introduction to Data", listed on the right).
• Read Sections 1.1 to 1.6 of OpenIntro Stats, skipping anything labelled as a "special topic".
• Start taking notice of data visualisations, interpreted as broadly as possible, you come across in your daily life, whether it be browsing the web or reading academic papers. Also note places where you wish there had been a visualisation of some sort but there was not.
• Show up at 8.10am (unless you hear otherwise via email).

Tuesday 10th Feb

• Read the rest of Chapter 1 of OpenIntro Stats, still skipping anything labelled as a "special topic".
• Watch the Alberto Cairo lecture on data visualisation (it's on the resources page under "Feb 10").

Thursday 12th Feb

• There will be a bit of time available to ask questions about the assignment due tomorrow. Make sure you've had a try at the assignment prior to class so that you can make good use of this.
• Otherwise, nothing specific (we'll be getting stuck into making graphs with ggplot2), but you might want to make a start on the prep for Tuesday.

Tuesday 17th Feb

• Find a data visualisation on the web and email me the link. Think about what it's saying and how well it says it. Come to class ready to share it with everyone else along with some brief commentary of your thoughts.
• Look through the Pitzer factbook on the Resources page. Lots of data about an institution. Marlboro is in the process of thinking about making one. What does the Pitzer one do well? Less well? What issues do you see applying the idea at Marlboro? Are there other graphs or data that you'd like to know about in such a document? Who might benefit from such a document?
• Read/watch at least one of the following:
  • One of the Cairo lectures on the Closed Link page.
  • US Gun Deaths and Uncertainty
  • Storytelling with data
  • When maps shouldn't be maps
  • Visual Encoding

Thursday 19th Feb

• Read/watch one or two more of the articles/videos posted for last class (so that everyone has read at least a couple---a few are quite short, so add some more if you choose one of those).
• Have a laptop with you if possible as you'll be playing with R/ggplot2 (perfectly doable in pairs, so don't worry if this doesn't work).
• The next assignment is being built now---not needed for this class, but if you're looking for something else to do then getting started there is a good idea.

Thursday 26th Feb

• Read OpenIntro Stats, Section 2.1.

Tuesday 3rd March

• Email your game rules to me in advance (see email)
• Read OpenIntro Stats, Section 2.2.

Thursday 5th March

• OpenIntro Stats, Sections 2.4 and 2.5.

Tuesday 10th March

• Quiz!

Thursday 12th March

• Project Ideas: Come ready to talk about what exactly you hope to do for your project.
• OpenIntro Stats, Section 3.1 and 3.3.

Thursday 2nd April

• OpenIntro Stats, Section 4.1 to 4.4 (skip anything labeled "special topic").

Tuesday 7th April

• OpenIntro Stats, Section 5.1 to 5.5.

Thursday 9th April

• Have made progress with your project (there will be class time for individual work/conversations).

Thursday 23rd April

• Presentations.

Thursday 30th April and Tuesday 5th May

• Review. Make sure you're up to date with the reading (6.1, 6.2, 6.4, 7.1 - 7.4) and let me know on what topics you'd like to see more examples/discussion.