Fall 2022 Syllabus - The Data Mine Corporate Partners

Course Information

Course Number and Title CRN

TDM 11100 – Corporate Partners I

CRNs vary

TDM 21100 – Corporate Partners III

CRNs vary

TDM 31100 – Corporate Partners V

CRNs vary

TDM 41100 – Corporate Partners VII

CRNs vary

TDM 51100 – Corporate Partners

CRNs vary

Meeting times: Two times per week (50 minutes + 1 hour 50 minutes), dependent on your assigned Corporate Partner Team. The team meeting times are listed on your registered course schedule.

Course credit hours: 3 credits

Prerequisites:

  • Undergraduate students: To be enrolled concurrently in TDM 10100, 20100, 30100, or 40100 The Data Mine I or III or V or VII (1 credit seminar).

  • Graduate students: Application required. No other prerequisites.

Course Site

All course material will be posted here in the Corporate Partners section of The Examples Book.

Grades can be viewed in Brightspace and assignments will be submitted through Gradescope.

Course Schedule & Due Dates

Due dates are listed in the Fall 2022 Student Course Schedule

Information about the Instructors

The Data Mine Staff

Name Title

Shared email we all read

datamine-help@purdue.edu

Kevin Amstutz

Senior Data Scientist and Instruction Specialist

Maggie Betz

Managing Director of Corporate Partnerships

Shuennhau Chang

Corporate Partners Senior Manager

David Glass

Managing Director of Data Science

Kali Lacy

Associate Research Engineer

Naomi Mersinger

ASL Interpreter & Strategic Initiatives Coordinator

Kim Rechkemmer

Senior Program Administration Specialist

Nick Rosenorn

Corporate Partners Technical Specialist

Katie Sanders

Operations Manager

Rebecca Sharples

Managing Director of Academic Programs & Outreach

Dr. Mark Daniel Ward

Director

Email Policy

The Data Mine Team uses a shared email which functions as a ticketing system. Using a shared email helps the team manage the influx of questions, better distribute questions across the team, and send out faster responses. You can write to datamine-help@purdue.edu.

  • Please use your official @purdue.edu email address to communicate with us.

  • If you have not received a response within 2 business days, please resend the email.

  • When emailing us, please place your Corporate Partner team in the subject line of the email (e.g., Merck Biometrics Team – Symposium Poster Question). This will help us respond to your emails quickly.

Use this table to send your questions to the most appropriate email. If you’re not sure who to ask, navigate to the Questions page for more details.

Who should you email? Types of Questions/Topics

Your CRP TA

Weekly tasks, catching up on a missed meeting, general team questions

datamine-help@purdue.edu

General Data Mine/Corporate Partners, grades, technical project or topic questions

Your CRP Mentor

(Check with your TA first) Project specific questions

Corporate Partner Mentors

Your Corporate Partner Mentor(s) are employees of the company you are working with. You will meet once a week with them online (unless the company is in West Lafayette, IN or visiting Purdue for a meeting). Please treat all communication with them in a professional manner – they are like your supervisor during an internship. They also act as a product owner and can help to answer questions or find resources for any product specific questions that you have during the project.

Corporate Partner TAs

Our Corporate Partner TAs will serve as peer mentors and team leaders for each of our projects. Nearly all of our CRP TAs have been in The Data Mine Corporate Partners program in past years and many are returning to the same project. The CRP TAs will lead the weekly student meeting (lab – 2 hours) when you are not meeting with the Corporate Partner Mentor(s). They should also be the first person to go to when you have a technical question or questions about your project.

Data Scientists

The data scientists employed by The Data Mine are here to help students with the technical topics and concepts that they will encounter during their projects. The data scientist team has a varied background in topics such as natural language processing (NLP), geospatial information systems (GIS), high performance computing, and machine learning.

If you have a question for a member of the Data Science team, please email datamine-help@purdue.edu and your question will be answered by a member of the Data Science Team. If our doors are open, you can drop by and ask for help. They will bring in other members of the team as needed. They are here to help so don’t be worried when asking questions!

When scheduling a meeting with a data scientist keep in mind that they are designed to be collaborative. The team wants to see any solutions that you’ve attempted and where you may be getting stuck. Also, for more complicated questions it helps to give some advance notice of the topics over email. We aren’t experts in all of data science and some research may be required.

Course Description

Students in The Data Mine Corporate Partners Learning Community will work in groups with Corporate Partner Mentors on a variety of projects. They will analyze real data related to questions that the Corporate Partner proposes. Most projects will last for a full academic year (late August through late April), with multiple reports and presentations given more frequently. The mentor is expected to meet with the students weekly by Microsoft Teams, or (more rarely) in person. Students are expected to actively participate in these meetings and in all individual and group work. The goal of the course is to help students build impactful industry related skills in data science, visualization, and data engineering. The Data Mine staff also has data scientists who can assist students with technical questions focused on the skills being built and the research conducted. Students can work on real-world industry facing issues that have a high value add for the corporate partner.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  1. Discover and apply data science tools to manage data sets from Corporate Partners through researching, cleaning, processing, analyzing, and visualizing data.

  2. Apply Agile project management methodology to plan task ownership and decision making, collaborate with scrum teams to accomplish the increment during 2-week sprints, review the product backlog, and reflect on areas of success and improvement.

  3. Engage with peers to identify and overcome complex challenges in the data sciences.

  4. Effectively communicate findings of technical research through detailed documentation and team presentations.

  5. Discover professional development opportunities in order to prepare for your career.

Logistics

Office Hours

The Data Mine staff offer office hours by request. Please email datamine-help@purdue.edu if you need to request a meeting. Students are always welcome to stop by staff offices Monday - Friday in MRGN 132 - 148.

Class/Team Meeting Times

50-minute team meeting

This meeting will occur synchronously online via MS Teams unless your Corporate Partner Mentors are located in West Lafayette or visiting campus. Online links are shared via a calendar invite at the beginning of the year. You can join this meeting from anywhere, but please follow the “net-etiquette” guidelines to find a quiet space.

1 hour 50-minute student labs

This meeting will occur in person for all teams. This is dedicated work time with your team members to collaborate on your project and to work as a larger group or as sub-teams. The meetings will be held in Hillenbrand Residence Hall (HILL) at 1301 Third Street, West Lafayette, IN 47906 or the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship (MRGN) at 1201 W. State St., West Lafayette, IN 47907.

Our image
Figure 1. Map of campus featuring Hillenbrand (HILL) and the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship building (MRGN)

Required Materials

Assignments and Grades

Late Policy

We do NOT accept late work, unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Extenuating circumstances do NOT include:

  • Having exams near or on the due date

  • Working on other course projects on or near the due date

  • Being sick for a few days on or near the due date

  • Traveling for any reason

  • Forgetting the due date

  • Having technical difficulties (wifi, computer, etc)

All students get one dropped sprint report. Using the drop early in the semester does not give you the excuse to ask for another drop or late work later in the semester.

It is better to submit a partially done report than nothing at all. Partial credit can be earned for work turned in on time. The electronic submission systems also do not allow for late work.

Grade Expectations

This is a research-type, project-based course, so the majority of your grade for the semester will be determined holistically based on work with Corporate Partners in addition to reports and other assignments per the schedule. Students will receive their own individual grade, but the success of the group will be a component of that individual grade.

It is very important to check the Brightspace, Gradescope, and The Examples Book pages frequently! Please review the schedule. More details for each assignment will be available in The Examples Book. Due dates are listed in the semester schedule

At the beginning of the semester, you will need to complete the following: syllabus quiz, agile training, and agile quiz. Details are posted on Sprint 1.

The Data Mine does not conduct or collect an assessment during the final exam period. Therefore, Corporate Partner Courses are not required to follow the Quiet Period in the Academic Calendar.

During the last week of fall semester in December, there will be a final presentation to showcase the work you have done throughout the semester and what you plan to accomplish in the spring semester. All Corporate Partner students will be required to make a final presentation with their teams and present it to their Corporate Partner leadership team. More details will be forthcoming and posted in The Examples Book.

Grade Breakdown

Syllabus Quiz

1%

Read the syllabus and take the quick and easy quiz on Gradescope. You may have the syllabus open while you take the quiz.

Agile Training

2%

The Agile training and an Agile quiz are required during the first sprint to learn about project management.

Agile 2-week Retro Sprint Reports & Documentation

60%

Seven 2-week sprints (15 weeks total) each worth 10% of your grade. Lowest sprint grade is dropped.

Sprint #1 will include Agile training and introductory materials. You will turn in reports at the end of each sprint to summarize your work and check in.

Corporate Partners Mentor and TA Evaluation

15%

First 8-week evaluation (August 22, 2022 – October 16, 2022)

5%

Final Evaluation (cumulative of entire fall 2022 semester)

10%

Final Presentation

22%

Drafts (practice presentation, draft deliverables)

4%

Final Deliverables

10%

Final Presentation

8%

TOTAL

100%

The general guidelines The Data Mine uses for evaluating your work with Corporate Partners are the following:

  • A+ (100): Did all the work on time and exceeded the company’s expectations.

  • A (95): Did all the work on time, communicated and collaborated well with the team and corporate mentor, and put significant effort into learning.

  • B (85): Did most of the work, maybe was late a few times, maybe put in a little less effort or didn’t communicate/collaborate as well.

  • C (75): Missed some of the work or was frequently late and making excuses; likely lacking in communication or collaboration with the team.

  • D (65): Put in very little effort to learn/contribute to the project with very little to no communication.

  • F (50): Disappeared or did minimal work and didn’t collaborate.

The numbers in parenthesis next to the letter grades are the numerical values that will be entered in Brightspace for your Corporate Partners Mentor Evaluation grade.

This course will follow the 90-80-70-60 grading scale for A, B, C, D cut-offs. If you earn a 90.000 in the class, for example, that is a solid A. +/- grades will be given at the instructor’s discretion below these cut-offs. If you earn an 89.11 in the class, for example, this may be an A- or a B depending on the course grade distribution at the end of the semester.

  • A: 100.000% – 90.000%

  • B: 89.999% – 80.000%

  • C: 79.999% – 70.000%

  • D: 69.999% – 60.000%

  • F: 59.999% – 0.000%

This course permits you, the student to participate in a class project that has been sponsored by a third party other than the University. The University encourages and supports your participation in this practical learning experience. Although your course requirements may include a practical learning project, you are not required to participate in a project that is sponsored by an outside third party. Prior to your participation in a project sponsored by an outside third party, we would like you to carefully consider that your participation (i) may require you to assign your intellectual property (IP) rights to any intellectual property for which a student would retain ownership under the University’s Policy I.A.1 on Intellectual Property and/or (ii) may require you sign a non-disclosure (confidentiality) agreement with the sponsor. If you sign an agreement regarding intellectual property rights or a non-disclosure agreement, you may incur personal liability (with respect to breach of a non- disclosure agreement) or you may lose economic benefits associated with your ownership of intellectual property (with respect to a license or assignment of intellectual property). You are encouraged to retain independent legal counsel for advice on these types of agreements. In addition, if you choose not to sign a non-disclosure or intellectual property rights agreement, you may be reassigned to a different project or you may not be able to participate in The Data Mine Corporate Partners.

Confidentiality of The Data Mine Corporate Partner Projects

It is important to note that you are working on real-world problems that your Corporate Partner is trying to solve. These projects weren’t created as busywork to keep you occupied for 9 months; you have the opportunity to make a real impact with your Corporate Partner. Past work from Data Mine students has been put into production code!

With that being said, the work you do and the data you have access to must be kept fully confidential! Nearly all Corporate Partner students will be required to sign an NDA and/or IP agreement with the company. Even if you do not have to sign an NDA for your project, please keep the project details private. While each NDA will have unique terms, some basics include:

  • Do not move or copy the data from the original storage. Never email data, text it to your teammates, copy it to MS Teams, or put it in Google drive (or any other cloud storage system). For example, if the data lives on Anvil, do not move it off Anvil and do not move it to a different folder. including your home directory.

  • Do not share any screenshots of the data or any findings (graphs, pictures, etc.) from the project with those who are not on your team.

  • You cannot share things you learn from the data with anyone who is not working on the project. This includes your roommate, your parents, and your best friend.

  • Do not disclose project specifics to anyone, including:

    • In an interview for an internship or job

    • On your LinkedIn profile

    • Your family/friends/roommate/boyfriend/girlfriend/professor

  • Do not discuss the details of projects when you are in a public space. You should find a private place to join the weekly online team meetings. Also, be careful working on the project in a public space when others could walk by and see your screen.

  • If you ever have questions about what you can talk about, always ask your Corporate Partner Mentor first. If you’re ever in doubt about what to share it’s often best to not share initially and check with your corporate partner. They can help clarify any confusion.

Agile

The Data Mine will be applying Agile project management to all of our Corporate Partner projects. Most of our Corporate Partners use Agile methods at their workplace. Agile allows complex projects to be broken down into small manageable tasks that can be assigned to individuals or teams. Agile also has built-in processes that help to enable team communication and collaboration.

Many corporations utilize Agile in environments from software development to data science. While the specifics of each Agile practice may vary by corporation it is beneficial to understand the high-level architecture of the Agile practices and how they can be beneficial in a team development environment. Agile implementation specifics may differ by team. However, each team will be working toward the same goals focused on the breakdown and accomplishment of work tasks and the constant open collaboration between team members.

To become more familiar with Agile methodologies you will complete online training and interactive team training focused on Agile. You will also take a quiz on applying Agile to The Data Mine. Since The Data Mine Corporate Partners is a learning environment (and not your typical 8 AM - 5 PM workplace), we have modified some of the practice to best suit the student schedule.

The MS Teams Planner (or other Agile software) application will also be available to teams for task tracking. The Data Mine staff will provide resources on the use of MS Teams Planner and how it related to the Agile concepts in the materials above. The tool that the team utilizes for Agile task tracking can be determined on a project-by-project basis between the students and the Corporate Partner Mentor or TA.

Attendance Policy

This course follows Purdue’s academic regulations regarding attendance, which states that students are expected to be present for every meeting of the classes in which they are enrolled. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class and lateness will be noted.

Students should stay home and contact the Protect Purdue Health Center (496-INFO) if they feel ill, have any symptoms associated with COVID-19, or suspect they have been exposed to the virus. Guidance on class attendance related to COVID-19 are outlined in the Protect Purdue Pledge for Fall 2021 on the Protect Purdue website.

When conflicts or absences can be anticipated, such as for many University-sponsored activities and religious observations, the student should inform the instructor of the situation as far in advance as possible.

For unanticipated or emergency absences when advance notification to the instructor is not possible, the student should contact the instructor or TA as soon as possible by email or phone. When the student is unable to make direct contact with the instructor and is unable to leave word with the instructor’s department because of circumstances beyond the student’s control, and in cases falling under excused absence regulations, the student or the student’s representative should contact or go to the Office of the Dean of Students website to complete appropriate forms for instructor notification. Under academic regulations, excused absences may be granted for cases of grief/bereavement, military service, jury duty, parenting leave, and medical excuse. For details, see the Academic Regulations & Student Conduct section of the University Catalog website.

Class Behavior

You are expected to behave in a way that promotes a welcoming, inclusive, productive learning environment. You need to be prepared for your individual and group work each week, and you need to include everybody in your group in any discussions. Respond promptly to all communications and show up for any appointments that are scheduled. If your group is having trouble working well together, try hard to talk through the difficulties—this is an important skill to have for future professional experiences. If you are still having difficulties, ask The Data Mine staff to meet with your group. Visit the Student Code of Conduct page to understand expectations on “Net-etiquette,” dress-code, in-person meetings, meal etiquette, work expectations, networking expectations, written communication, and time management.

Adding The Data Mine to your Resume

Please see the Professional Development section to learn how to add The Data Mine to your resume.

Disclaimer

This syllabus is subject to change. Changes will be made by an announcement via email and the corresponding course content will be updated.