Changes to Course Schedule and Due Dates for
COMP 300/400 Data Mining
Several notes have come out
of the provost’s office during the past week, due to the situation with the
COVID-19 virus. While this course is designed
to be delivered online, there are additional circumstances that do require
changing our schedule and our due dates.
Of course, of primary concern is that I am committed to continuing our
online sessions, team meetings and my online availability, and I am determined
that you will complete the course with a solid foundation in Data Mining. However, it is equally important that this is
done in a way that is fair to all students.
Given the unusual circumstances, there are several factors that must be
considered. The provost’s office has declared
there can be no exams or assignments due until after March 23; therefore I have
changed some of the scheduled due dates. In addition, there are quite a few students in
this course who are in the process of moving out of the dorms and can’t study
for exams or work on homework, which may further negatively impact their grades;
therefore, I have cancelled the midterm and revised some of the project “interim”
assignments. I have discussed these
changes with our department chair, Professor Sekharan, who has concurred that I
should implement the changes that I feel are fair and beneficial for our students,
while still maintaining the academic standards that we need to cover the
material in this course. I have
summarized the changes below, update syllabus, and updated our Sakai site
weekly pages and assignment due dates.
Changes in
course components:
· The midterm exam, originally
scheduled for 3/18, is cancelled. The midterm exam is comprehensive and fairly
difficult. 3/18 is before the withdrawal
deadline, and I had planned to have your scores posted before the deadline, for
students to have that information in time to make a decision about whether to
drop the course. However, our next
class, which would be 3/25, is after the withdrawal deadline. I think it is very unfair to students to give
you an exam that could significantly lower your grade when it is too late for
you to make a withdrawal decision. Clearly,
it would be better to have the exam, but we have a very major lab (and several
short labs) coming up, as well as the project, which is a culminating
application of what we have learned. I
believe that this is the most fair approach, given that there are circumstances
that will truly prevent students from adequately preparing for the midterm.
· This also means that the
course is now worth 750 points. Grades will be calculated as before, with 93%
of the course equals an A; 90% equals an A- and so forth.
· The Project Proposal,
originally due on 3/25, will now be zoom
meetings. Instead of a formal
proposal, we will have mandatory project zoom meetings that week, so that I can
make sure that all teams are progressing with their projects or at least have a
reasonable plan for progress. This way, teams can get immediate feedback from
me, and this will hopefully expedite your project progress. Teams will get
credit for the Project Proposal if they can demonstrate a solid plan with some
work completed. Meetings will be held
between 3/22 and 3/31. A signup sheet
will be distributed shortly.
Changes
to the course schedule (also updated in the syllabus):
· On 3/18, instead of the midterm, I will hold an online
zoom class covering the second Classification Lecture, which includes Chapter 9. This was originally scheduled for 3/25. There are already videos for this lecture, on
both box.com and on youtube. So if anyone is overwhelmed from moving or other
chaotic changes, you have the videos available at your convenience, and the
labs and homework are still at their original (later) dates.
· The week of 3/25 is now for project work. Instead of a lecture, all teams are required
to sign up for zoom meetings with me.
Even if your project is humming along and you have no problems at all, you
will still have to check in with me. If you really think you don’t need a zoom
meeting, email me and we’ll discuss it. Sign
up dates will be between 3/22 and 4/01.
I am requesting that teams that are able to sign up for earlier dates do
so, and that we try and be considerate of those students who really need the extra
time due to unusual circumstances such as moving, and allow them to have the
later dates. If you need a later date,
please be sure to sign up early. (I have
94 students this semester, and now have zoom meetings with all of the teams in
the all of the classes, so please be sure to sign up!!!!!)
· The week of 4/01 is still the Affinity Marketing Lab. There is no formal lecture, but this lab is
much more heavy-duty than the text mining labs.
It comes with documentation, extensive videos, multiple steps, and there
are no shortcuts. However, I have
extended the due date from 4/01 to 4/08, as some teams will still be working on
their project zoom meeting preparation until 4/01. DO. NOT. WAIT. UNTIL. THE. LAST. MINUTE. This lab cannot be completed in just a couple
of days. Further, since other assignments
have had their due dates postponed, you will run into a serious crunch if you
wait until the last minute.
· 4/08: As per
the original syllabus: no online
lecture, as we are focusing on the projects, and you be completing Affiinity
Marketing, which his now due on 4/08. Do
NOT wait to work on Affinity Marketing to the last minute!!! I would like this completed before Easter
break, so that you will have 3 full weeks to seriously focus on your projects!!
· 4/15: As per
the original syllabus: no online lecture. Optional zoom meetings. Project work, and I am available for team
meetings, questions, over zoom.
· 4/22: As per the original schedule. No online lecture, but zoom office hours, questions,
team meetings, etc.
· 4/29: As per the original schedule, project
presentations (videos or zoom) due.
Changes to due dates:
· 3/29: The
due date for Classification labs that were originally due on 3/14 are now due
on 3/29. Most of you have already
completed those labs, as we went through them during class time. Those of you who were unable to do so have some
extra time.
· 3/29: The due
date for the KNN and NN-CTS Classification labs that were originally due on
3/29 are still due on 3/29.
· 3/29: The due
date for Homework, Chapter 8, originally due on 3/25 is now due on 3/29. This means that you will be working on
Classification lectures, labs, homework Ch. 8 at the same time. Hopefully, this will help consolidate your
knowledge and make it easier to complete the work.
· 3/22- 3/31: Project “proposal”
zoom meetings must be completed by 3/31.
Priority for the later dates will be given to students who have had to
move or have other unusual circumstances due to the COVID-19 emergency.
· 4/01: Chapter 9, homework is due
· 4/08:
Affinity Marketing Lab is due
· 4/18: Project
Progress Report is due
· 4/19: Labs,
DMM: K-Means, Clustering, due
· 4/29: Presentations and HW Chapter 10