Introduction to Data Analytics (Online)

This course will be offered online only. Course will be held 3/4/2024 AND 3/6/2024, 5pm – 7pm each day. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

The data explosion we are experiencing in every aspect of our lives from social media to smart cars to internet of things requires a deeper look at data analytics. Data analytics is the application of tools and techniques for analyzing raw data to find patterns, develop models and mine actionable insights. Today performing data analysis is both a science and an art. Even though data analytics is highly automated as processes and algorithms, using them appropriately, and making sense of the results is still an art and experience.

This course is focused on an introduction to data analytics followed by hands-on exercises. It is tailored for beginners and researchers who want to learn how to perform data analytics in a visual programming environment. In this course we will specifically concentrate on one aspect of data analytics called supervised predictive learning. Two types of predictive learning will be explored – decision trees and regression. We will use some open-source tools and build data analytics pipelines as part of the exercises.

This course will count as 4.0 CSS short course hours.

Instructor: Dr. Arcot Rajasekar

Arcot Rajasekar is a Professor at the UNC School for Information and Library Science (SILS) and a Chief Scientist at the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI). For the past 25 years, he has been involved with helping scientists with managing, discovering, and applying data for solving problems.  A leading proponent of policy-oriented, large-scale data systems, Dr. Rajasekar has several research projects funded by the NSF, NIH, NARA, EPA and other agencies. His recent courses are in the areas of advanced databases, big data and NoSQL, smart cities, and information analytics.

Registration fees:

• UNC Chapel Hill Students: $0, with a $25 deposit to hold your spot (deposit is refundable upon your attendance for at least 66% of the course)
• UNC Chapel Hill Faculty/Staff/Postdoc/Resident/Visiting Scholars: $50
• Non-UNC Chapel Hill University Student/Employee (must have active university email): $75
• Government/Non-Profit/Corporate: $100

Additional course information:

• Registration will close at 12:01am 3/1/2024. No late registrations will be accepted.
• Cancellation/ Refund Policy: A full refund will be given to those who cancel their registration no later than 10 days prior to the course. If you cancel within the 10 days prior to the class, no refund will be given. Please allow 30 days to receive your refund.
• Zoom link will be sent prior to the course. Registration must be made at least 3 days prior to the course date to receive the Zoom link.

For questions regarding this class, please contact Jill Stevens at jill_stevens@unc.edu