Course syllabus

Data science capstone

Course listing

PSTAT197B-C/CMPSC190DE-DF

Updated

January 2026

Students will devote the vast majority of their time and effort in this course to project work and are expected to engage fully with their projects. Class meetings will be conducted as seminars with rotating presentations by project teams. Students will meet weekly with their project teams and regular progress is expected. Each team will prepare one written project summary at the end of winter quarter and one poster presentation at the end of spring quarter.

Concurrent course listing: PSTAT197B-C and CMPSC190DE-DF are held concurrently; enrollment is by instructor consent and admitted students may enroll under either listing. The course content, expectations, assessments, and course policies are identical for students enrolled in either course.

Catalog description: Research opportunities for undergraduate students. Students practice their data science and applied statistics skills by completing a hands-on team project on a practical problem proposed by a project sponsor. Students are expected to give regular oral presentations and prepare at least one written report on their research. Prerequisite: PSTAT197A.

Learning outcomes

Through their project work and participation in class meetings, students can expect to:

  • make original contributions on a methodological or applied research topic involving statistics, data science, and computational science;

  • develop domain expertise in the area(s) of application relevant to their project topic;

  • develop and practice effective strategies for communicating research outcomes with clarity and confidence;

  • improve collaboration and teamwork skills;

  • deepen their understanding of careers in data science;

  • produce a strong work sample for inclusion in a professional portfolio.

Meetings

Winter 2026

Class meetings are held once weekly 2pm – 3:15pm Tuesdays in South Hall 1431.

Project meetings are held once weekly in teams at a time of their choosing either via Zoom, on campus, or on site with the project mentor.

We will not meet regularly at other officially scheduled times, but we will use the Thursday slot as an alternate class meeting time.

Students are encouraged to block off section times in their schedule to facilitate convenient scheduling of project work.

People

Instructor

Anthony Coburn, Lecturer, Statistics.

Project advisors

(In alphabetical order by last name)

  • Abhijit Brahme, graduate student

  • Anthony Coburn, lecturer

  • Yan Lashchev, undergraduate program advisor

  • Olivier Mulkin, graduate student

Project mentors

(In alphabetical order by organization)

  • Ori Jonathan Porat, BlueAlpha

  • Brian Codding, Brian Codding Lab

  • Erin Satterthwaite, CalCOFI, CA Sea Grant, and Scripps Institute of Oceanography

  • Michael Schmidt, NationBuilder

  • Juliana Acosta-Uribe, Neuroscience Research Institute

  • Eric Leidersdorf, P3 - Peak Performance Project

  • Larissa Heeren, San Luis Obispo Probation Department

  • Rasmus Swalethorp, Scripps Institue of Oceanography

  • Zamir Syed, Singularity Solutions

  • Soojin Yi, Soojin Yi Lab

  • Tess Ivinjack, Nazhah Mir, and James O’Brien, SoundEthics

Expectations

Time commitment. The course carries a time commitment of 12 hours per week (3 hours per credit unit). Class and project meetings account for roughly 2 hours per week, and class assignments are kept to a minimum to facilitate project work; thus, students should anticipate dedicating 8-10 hours outside of the classroom to project work each week. Students are strongly encouraged to establish a secondary meeting without their advisors each week to help ensure effective time and task management among the group.

Team contracts. Each team will develop a contract articulating their goals as a group, basic agreements about communication and collaboration, and steps that will be taken in the event of failure to uphold those agreements.

Team roles. Each student will take on one of the following roles per term by mutual agreement with their team:

  • a spokesperson who is responsible for communicating with advisors and course staff on behalf of the team;

  • a meeting organizer who is responsible for arranging project meetings and keeping time during meetings;

  • a note-taker who is responsible for maintaining a written record of each meeting;

  • a repository/data/document manager who is responsible for coordinating access to project files and keeping them organized;

  • for five-person teams, an equity manager who is responsible for ensuring a fair distribution of work among the team members;

  • for three-person teams, the roles of meeting organizer and note-taker will be combined. Workload and equity monitoring will be a standing agenda item, rotating weekly.

Peer review. Teams will conduct an anonymized peer review each quarter in which each student rates their teammates on:

  • cooperation with the group;

  • communication;

  • adherence to with agreements established by the group contract;

  • fulfillment of their assigned role;

  • the extent to which they contributed their fair share to project work.

Aggregated results will be used to provide individual feedback and identify any necessary interventions to improve quality of collaboration.

Class presentations. Each team is expected to present some of their work once per term to the class. In-class presentations should be informal and allow time for intermittent discussion and questions. Teams should prepare at least 10 slides and a 1-2 page handout.

Poster presentation. A public showcase of project work will be held on campus at the end of the Spring quarter. Each team is expected to prepare a poster to present at the showcase.

Non-disclosure agreements. Some projects are subject to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) between the university and the sponsoring organization. If so, project advisors will notify students of the terms and share copies of the NDA; students are expected to uphold any such NDAs but should not directly sign any agreements.

Assessments

Students will be evaluated based on the following:

  • attendance record and class assignments;

  • end-of-term advisor assessments of individual participation and contributions;

  • instructor assessments of in-class presentations and poster;

  • peer reviews and end-of-term individual reflections.

Policies

Attendance. Regular attendance at class meetings is expected. Each student can miss one class meeting without notice; further absences may impact course grades. Students are responsible for material discussed in their absence and should review notes and consult a classmate.

Deadlines. Students are expected to meet assignment deadlines in a timely manner. All deadlines have a 24-hour grace period. Late or amended work may or may not be accepted at the instructor’s discretion.

Email. Course staff will make their best effort to reply to email within 48 weekday hours. However, due to high volume, staff cannot guarantee that all messages will receive replies.

Illness. Students who are ill are required to stay home. Students ill with COVID-19 must comply with university policy regarding reporting and isolation. Accommodations will be made to ensure that students absent due to illness do not fall behind.

Accommodations. Reasonable accommodations will be made for any student with a qualifying disability. Such requests should be made through the Disabled Students Program (DSP). More information, instructions on how to access accommodations, and information on related resources can be found on the DSP website. Note: in this class there are no timed assessments.

Letter grades. Letter grades are assigned based only on the assessments identified above and according to university guidelines, with the relative weighting of assessments determined at the discretion of the instructor. While grade calculations will not be disclosed, students are entitled to an explanation of the criteria used to determine their grades if desired. Grades will not be changed except in the case of clerical errors. If students feel their grade has been unfairly assigned, they are entitled to contest it following UCSB procedure for contesting grades.

Conduct. All course participants are expected to maintain respectful and honorable conduct consistent with UCSB ethical standards. Students uncomfortable with the behavior of another course participant for any reason should notify the instructor, course staff, or, if the complaint relates to course staff conduct, an administrative or departmental officer. Evidence of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct (OSC); evidence of problematic behavior will be addressed on a case-by-case basis in accord with university policies.