August 26, 2026
Foundation · Week 01
Data analytics + workflow
Launch the course by turning real decisions into focused questions, identifying the evidence those questions require, and seeing how each step of an analysis connects.
Aug 26–28First course meeting
Focus
- What data analytics is
- Questions → data → insight → action
- Data quality, context, and decisions
Prepare
- Read the syllabus
- Open Brightspace
- Bookmark this website and your R repository
Practice
- Turn a broad interest into a data question
- Identify observations, variables, and time frames
- Map an end-to-end analytics workflow
Learning targets
By the end of the week, you should be able to:
- describe data analytics as a process connecting questions, data, analysis, insight, and decisions;
- translate a broad business or social decision into a focused, answerable question;
- identify the observations, variables, context, and evidence needed to address that question; and
- locate the syllabus, weekly roadmap, course materials, Brightspace, and your section’s R repository.
Class plan
| Move | What we will do |
|---|---|
| Orient | Course purpose, expectations, two-section setup, and semester path |
| Frame | Separate a decision from the analytical question that supports it |
| Inspect | Identify observations, variables, missing context, and data-quality risks |
| Map | Connect question, data, analysis, insight, and action |
| Set up | Confirm Brightspace, R resources, and the workflow for class |