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DS 305Algorithmic Methods and Tools

3 credits · Data Sciences · Penn State

This course teaches students how to formulate data science problems that arise in different applications that involve different types of data (tabular, sequence, network, matrix data); and introduces students to common strategies for formulating, and solving those problems. The course will cover (1) how to formulate data science problems (e.g., text analysis, biological sequence analysis, social network analysis, recommender systems) and how to evaluate alternative formulations, (2) common algorithmic methods and tools (as implemented in software libraries) for representing, processing, and sampling data, (3) how to apply the methods and tools to solve well-formulated data science problems. The course will also teach students how to understand and use results about the correctness, efficiency, and scalability of the techniques and tools, and they will learn to recognize when specific algorithmic tools can be used to improve the performance of their data science tasks. Through exercises, students will gain hands-on experience in problem formulation and solution development for data science problems that arise in applications.

Before you enroll

Prerequisites

From the catalog: “Prerequisites: ( CMPSC 122 or CMPSC 132 or IST 242 ) and ( IST 230 or CMPSC 360 or MATH 311W )”

Where it fits

Where it sits in degree plans

Suggested plans most often put it in Year 2 · Spring (2 programs).

One of the options in (2)

  • Artificial Intelligence Methods and Applications, B.S. (Capital)
  • Artificial Intelligence Methods and Applications, B.S. (Information Sciences and Technology)
What it opens up

Courses that list DS 305 as a prerequisite (3)

  • A-I 370 Problem Formulation and Automated Problem Solving
  • DS 310 Machine Learning for Data Analytics
  • DS 440 Data Sciences Capstone Course