Principles of Data Science

DSC 10, Summer 2026 at UC San Diego

Vrinda Desai
she/her

Lecture(s): MW 11AM-1:50PM in HDSI 355 or on ZOOM

If you were unable to complete Lab 0 and 1, visit the syllabus to see our course policy on “slip days”.

Due to uncertainty regarding the proctoring service, Quiz 1 has been delayed and will be take-home.

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Week 1 – Python Basics and DataFrames

Mon Jun 29

LEC 1 Introduction

CIT 1.0-1.3

Keywords: data science, course structure, policies, syllabus, Little Women demo

LEC 2 Expressions and Data Types

BPD 1-6

Keywords: Jupyter notebooks, expressions, variables, assignment, functions, int, float

LEC 3 Strings, Lists, and Arrays

BPD 7-8, 14.1

Keywords: string methods, mean, median, lists, arrays, array arithmetic

DISC 1 Getting Started with Jupyter Notebooks

Tue Jun 30

SUR Welcome Survey

SYL Syllabus Check

Wed Jul 1

LEC 4 Arrays and DataFrames

BPD 9

Keywords: array methods, np.arange, .read_csv, .get, .assign, .sort_values, .iloc, .loc, index

LEC 5 Querying and Grouping

BPD 10-11

Keywords: .set_index, Booleans, querying, .shape, &, |, .take, .groupby, aggregation

LEC 6 Grouping and Data Visualization

CIT 7.0-7.1

Keywords: .groupby, numerical vs. categorical, scatter plot, line plot, bar chart

DISC 2 Arrays and DataFrames

Thu Jul 2

LAB 0 Expressions and Data Types

LAB 1 Arrays and DataFrames

PRE Pretest

Fri Jul 3

HW 1 Basic Python, Arrays, and DataFrames

Week 2 – Functions, Control Flow, and Probability

Mon Jul 6

LEC 7 Distributions and Histograms

CIT 7.2-7.3

Keywords: distributions, density histograms, binning, total area, overlaid plots

LEC 8 Functions and Applying

BPD 6, 12

Keywords: functions, arguments, print vs. return, .apply, .reset_index

LEC 9 Grouping on Multiple Columns, Merging

BPD 11, 13

Keywords: .groupby([col_1, col_2, …]), subgroups, MultiIndex, .merge, number of rows

DISC 3 Querying, Grouping, and Plotting

Tue Jul 7

LAB 2 Data Visualizations and Functions

Wed Jul 8

LEC 10 Conditional Statements and Iteration

CIT 9.0-9.2

Keywords: in, not, and, or, if, else, elif, for-loops, np.append, accumulator pattern

LEC 11 Probability

CIT 9.5

Keywords: event, conditional prob., multiplication and addition rules, independence

LEC 12 Simulation

CIT 9.3-9.4

Keywords: np.random.choice, replacement, np.count_nonzero, coin flipping, Monty Hall

DISC 4 Functions, DataFrames, and Control Flow

HW 2 DataFrames, Data Visualization, and Functions

Thu Jul 9

LAB 3 DataFrames, Control Flow, and Probability

Fri Jul 10

QUIZ 1 Quiz 1 covers Lectures 1-6

HW 3 DataFrames, Control Flow, and Probability

Week 3 – Sampling and Midterm

Mon Jul 13

LEC 13 Distributions and Sampling

CIT 10.0-10.4

Keywords: probability vs. empirical distribution, SRS, .sample, parameter, statistic

LEC 14 Bootstrapping and Confidence Intervals

CIT 13.0-13.2

Keywords: inference, bootstrapping, resample, np.percentile, confidence interval

REV Review

DISC 5 Probability and Simulation

Wed Jul 15

EXAM Midterm Exam covers Lectures 1-12

Fri Jul 17

LAB 4 Simulation, Sampling, & Bootstrapping

Week 4 – Normal Distribution and Hypothesis Testing

Mon Jul 20

LEC 15 Confidence Intervals, Center, and Spread

CIT 13.3-13.4

Keywords: interpreting CIs, robust vs. sensitive, center, standard deviation

LEC 16 Standardization and the Normal Distribution

CIT 14.2-14.3

Keywords: Chebyshev, standard units, normal distribution, CDF, inflection points

LEC 17 The Central Limit Theorem

CIT 14.4-14.5

Keywords: distribution of the sample mean, square root law, CLT-based CIs

DISC 6 Sampling, Bootstrapping, and Confidence Intervals

PROJ Midterm Project

Tue Jul 21

HW 4 Simulation, Sampling, & Bootstrapping

Wed Jul 22

LEC 18 Choosing Sample Sizes, Statistical Models

CIT 14.6, 11.1

Keywords: standard deviation of 0s and 1s, np.random.multinomial, Robert Swain jury

LEC 19 Hypothesis Testing

CIT 11.3

Keywords: null and alternative hypotheses, test statistic, fair or unfair coin

LEC 20 Hypothesis Testing and Total Variation Distance

CIT 11.2, 11.4

Keywords: fair or unfair coin, p-value, midterm exam scores, Alameda County jury, TVD

DISC 7 The Normal Distribution and the CLT

Thu Jul 23

LAB 5 Variability and the Normal Distribution

Fri Jul 24

HW 5 The Normal Distribution and the Central Limit Theorem

Week 5 – Prediction and Final Exam

Mon Jul 27

LEC 21 TVD, Hypothesis Testing, and Permutation Testing

CIT 12.0-12.1

Keywords: confidence intervals for hypothesis testing, body temperature, smoking/babies

LEC 22 Permutation Testing

CIT 12.3

Keywords: smoking/babies, np.random.permutation, shuffling, Deflategate

LEC 23 Correlation

CIT 15.0-15.2

Keywords: association, correlation coefficient (r), predicting heights, regression line (su)

DISC 8 Hypothesis Testing and Permutation Testing

Tue Jul 28

LAB 6 Hypothesis Testing

Wed Jul 29

LEC 24 Regression and Least Squares

CIT 15.2-15.4

Keywords: regression line in original units, outliers, errors, RMSE, best fit, least squares

LEC 25 Residuals and Inference

CIT 15.5-16.3

Keywords: residuals, residual plots, patterns, datasaurus dozen, prediction intervals

REV Review

DISC 9 Regression

HW 6 Hypothesis Testing and Permutation Testing

Thu Jul 30

LAB 7 Regression

Fri Jul 31

EXAM Final Exam