Principles of Data Science
DSC 10, Winter 2025 at UC San Diego

Janine Tiefenbruckshe/her
Lecture(s): (A) MWF 9-9:50AM, (B) MWF 11-11:50AM in Solis 104
Welcome to DSC 10! Make sure to read this website thoroughly and complete the items in the Getting Started checklist.
Week 1 – Python Basics
- Mon Mar 31
- Keywords: data science, course structure, policies, syllabus, Little Women demo
- Wed Apr 2
LEC 2 Variables and Data Types
Keywords: Jupyter notebooks, expressions, variables, assignment, functions, int, float- Thu Apr 3
SUR Welcome Survey
SYL Syllabus Check
PRE Pretest
- Fri Apr 4
- Keywords: string methods, mean, median, lists, arrays, array arithmetic
- Sat Apr 5
Week 2 – DataFrames
- Mon Apr 7
LEC 4 Arrays and DataFrames
Keywords: array methods, np.arange, .read_csv, .get, .assign, .sort_values, .iloc, .loc, index- Wed Apr 9
LEC 5 Querying and Grouping
Keywords: .set_index, Booleans, querying, .shape, &, |, .take, .groupby, aggregationDISC 2 Arrays and DataFrames
- Thu Apr 10
LAB 1 Arrays and DataFrames
- Fri Apr 11
LEC 6 Grouping and Data Visualization
Keywords: .groupby, numerical vs. categorical, scatter plot, line plot, bar chart
Week 3 – Data Visualization and Functions
- Mon Apr 14
LEC 7 Distributions and Histograms
Keywords: distributions, density histograms, binning, total area, overlaid plotsDISC 3 Querying, Grouping, and Plotting
HW 1 Basic Python, Arrays, and DataFrames
- Wed Apr 16
LEC 8 Functions and Applying
Keywords: functions, arguments, print vs. return, .apply, .reset_indexQUIZ 1 Quiz 1 covers Lectures 1-5
- Thu Apr 17
LAB 2 Data Visualizations and Functions
- Fri Apr 18
LEC 9 Grouping on Multiple Columns, Merging
Keywords: .groupby([col_1, col_2, …]), subgroups, MultiIndex, .merge, number of rows
Week 4 – Control Flow and Probability
- Mon Apr 21
LEC 10 Conditional Statements and Iteration
Keywords: in, not, and, or, if, else, elif, for-loops, np.append, accumulator patternDISC 4 Functions, DataFrames, and Control Flow
HW 2 DataFrames, Data Visualization, and Functions
- Wed Apr 23
LEC 11 Probability
Keywords: event, conditional prob., multiplication and addition rules, independenceQUIZ 2 Quiz 2 covers Lectures 6-9
- Thu Apr 24
LAB 3 DataFrames, Control Flow, and Probability
- Fri Apr 25
LEC 12 Simulation
Keywords: np.random.choice, replacement, np.count_nonzero, coin flipping, Monty Hall
Week 5 – Simulation, Sampling, and Confidence Intervals
- Mon Apr 28
LEC 13 Distributions and Sampling
Keywords: probability vs. empirical distribution, SRS, .sample, parameter, statisticDISC 5 Probability and Simulation
HW 3 DataFrames, Control Flow, and Probability
SUR Mid-Quarter Survey
- Wed Apr 30
REV Midterm Review
- Fri May 2
EXAM Midterm Exam covers Lectures 1-12
Week 6 – Midterm Exam and the Normal Distribution
- Mon May 5
LEC 14 Bootstrapping and Confidence Intervals
Keywords: inference, bootstrapping, resample, np.percentile, confidence intervalPROJ Midterm Project
- Wed May 7
LEC 15 Confidence Intervals, Center, and Spread
Keywords: interpreting CIs, robust vs. sensitive, center, standard deviation, ChebyshevDISC 6 Sampling, Bootstrapping, and Confidence Intervals
- Thu May 8
LAB 4 Simulation, Sampling, & Bootstrapping
- Fri May 9
LEC 16 Standardization and the Normal Distribution
Keywords: Chebyshev, standard units, normal distribution, CDF, inflection points
Week 7 – Central Limit Theorem
- Mon May 12
LEC 17 The Central Limit Theorem
Keywords: distribution of the sample mean, square root law, CLT-based CIsDISC 7 Standardization and the Normal Distribution
HW 4 Simulation, Sampling, Bootstrapping
- Wed May 14
LEC 18 Choosing Sample Sizes, Statistical Models
Keywords: standard deviation of 0s and 1s, np.random.multinomial, Robert Swain juryQUIZ 3 Quiz 3 covers Lectures 13-16
- Thu May 15
LAB 5 Variability and the Normal Distribution
- Fri May 16
LEC 19 Hypothesis Testing
Keywords: null and alternative hypotheses, test statistic, fair or unfair coin
Week 8 – Hypothesis and Permutation Testing
- Mon May 19
LEC 20 Hypothesis Testing and Total Variation Distance
Keywords: fair or unfair coin, p-value, midterm exam scores, Alameda County jury, TVDDISC 8 The Central Limit Theorem and Hypothesis Testing
HW 5 The Normal Distribution and the Central Limit Theorem
- Wed May 21
LEC 21 TVD, Hypothesis Testing, and Permutation Testing
Keywords: confidence intervals for hypothesis testing, body temperature, smoking/babiesQUIZ 4 Quiz 4 covers Lectures 17-20
- Thu May 22
LAB 6 Hypothesis Testing
- Fri May 23
LEC 22 Permutation Testing
Keywords: smoking/babies, np.random.permutation, shuffling, Deflategate
Week 9 – Prediction
- Mon May 26
No Lecture (Memorial Day)
- Tue May 27
HW 6 Hypothesis Testing and Permutation Testing
- Wed May 28
LEC 23 Correlation
Keywords: association, correlation coefficient (r), predicting heights, regression line (su)DISC 9 Total Variation Distance and Permutation Testing
- Fri May 30
LEC 24 Regression and Least Squares
Keywords: regression line in original units, outliers, errors, RMSE, best fit, least squares- Sat May 31
LAB 7 Regression
Week 10 – Review
- Mon Jun 2
LEC 25 Residuals and Inference
Keywords: residuals, residual plots, patterns, datasaurus dozen, prediction intervalsQUIZ 5 Quiz 5 covers Lectures 21-24
- Wed Jun 4
REV Final Review
PROJ Final Project
DISC 10 Regression
- Fri Jun 6
REV Final Review, Conclusion
- Sat Jun 7
EXAM Final Exam (11:30AM to 2:30PM)
SUR SETs and End-of-Quarter Survey (due 8AM)