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Project Check-in 5

Like a Final Draft ☑️

Back in Check-in 1, I said, "The goal is to arrive systematically at a meaningful interpretation of data that was too large to process by hand." And since then, all the check-ins have been to prepare you for today's complete draft.

Fifth Check-in

In Check-ins 1 and 2 you brainstormed topics.

In Check-in 3 you tried to get clarity on your thinking about your selected topic.

In Check-in 4 you collected data.

Now, you analyze that data, using Python to help count up patterns in that data, compare numbers, and/or produce visuals for you. And then you interpret your results.

For this, there'll be three parts to your submission:

  • All the data files we need (if any) to run your code
  • The Python files themselves we'll need to run your code
  • A very brief write-up ("report") to give us the context of your project and your summary and interpretation of your results

You can submit those however you want, such as in a .ZIP file. But, there's a simpler option if you've been using repl.it for your work. To do that, just add a file to your repl.it project named report.txt or report.md, and write up your "report" there. Then you can share a link to your project or download the whole thing as a .ZIP file.

However you do it, your project MUST:

  • Include everything we need to just hit Run and get results
  • The report has to introduce us to your topic, the big picture of your topic, and what you are looking AT and FOR in your analysis (your answers to check-in 3)
  • The code has to run without error
  • The code has to "analyze" your data for patterns. This isn't a stats or data science class, so this can be as simple as counting items and comparing them across groups. I'm pretty open to ideas here, so long as you defend in your report how what you chose to "measure" is meaningful
  • The code has to produce at least one plot from those results, and that plot should, if able, show convincingly that there is a pattern as well as what the pattern is
  • The report has to summarize your results and interpret them, the "story" they are telling, and what it tells you about the topic you set out to learn more about

And optionally:

  • The code collects the data for you from the web, via scraping, etc.

And keep in mind, the code and the writing can both be fairly short!

What matters is that it's clear that you've put thought into what you wanted to learn more about, thought into how that topic is represented in the data, thought about what small job(s) Python had for your project, thought into what the results are telling you, and your code is well executed for the small job(s) that you had for it. I imagine you could do this is about four well written paragraphs total, and no more than 100 lines of code. (Of course, your project should dictate what's best for your particular scenario.)

With that in mind, start by responding to TWO other students on the previous Check-in. Choose students with the least responses so far and with ideas that interest you, preferring to respond to the same students as you did last time. Comment (politely, kindly, clearly!) on the organization of the data they collected, ideas for how they might achieve the requirements above, etc. Most importantly, give each others kudos! We've come a long way so far, and we're making a big push all at once here. These, I would hope, are your friends. Treat each other kindly. Help each other out.

Then, before you start programming, look at my feedback on your previous Check-ins. Reach out (via email) if you've got questions, errors, etc., and put a time on my calendar (link at the bottom of every announcement) if you want to spend more time discussing your project.

Finally, write a like-a-final draft for your project. Post it the discussion board for this Check-in. In the Peer Review Activity you'll thoroughly comment on each others' projects.

Submission

Post your answers/materials for the check-in above to Blackboard to the discussion board for this assignment.

Grading

This check-in is worth 3/100 towards your final grade. It will appear as worth 9/100 on Blackboard because we are also using this discussion board for the Peer Review, which is worth 6/100.