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Tutor Apprenticeship in Data Science 🧑‍🏫

DSC 95, Fall 2024 at UC San Diego

Class: Mondays (so far), 1-1:50PM, CENTER 222


Table of contents

  1. Schedule
  2. About
  3. People
  4. Requirements
  5. Useful Information
  6. Acknowledgements

Schedule

Note: This is a discussion-heavy course, and it’s hard to predict how long some discussions may take. As such, the schedule below is likely to change quite a bit throughout the quarter.

Deadlines will appear with a ✅, and all deadlines are subject to change.

WeekClassAction Items
1
September 30th
Introduction, Responsibilities, Imposter Syndrome Read:
  • So You Think You Can TA by John Kotker. This guide was written with TAs who run discussion sections in mind, but many of the tips (e.g. following up with students when you don't know something, bending down or sitting in a chair to maintain eye-level contact with them) are relevant in office hours too.
  • The Tao of TALC. This guide describes how to effectively run large-scale office hours that are not unlike our DSC office hours, especially when things get busy. Not everything will directly apply, especially in more theoretical courses, but it's still useful to read.

Complete the Welcome Survey by ✅ Wed (October 2nd), 11:59pm.
2
October 2nd
Professionalism and Office HoursWatch Learning Styles Don't Exist.

Find an experienced tutor in the class you are tutoring for and “shadow” them (i.e. follow them around and observe them) during their office hours for at least 30 minutes. Preferably choose a time that will be busier, e.g. the day that homework is due. Then, answer reflection questions on Gradescope by ✅ Wednesday, October 9th.
3
October 4th
Grading, Productivity TipsHW: Read the three readings, submit two questions for the tutor panel and complete the sample grading assignment here by ✅ Questions by Sunday, Grading by Wed; grading by Friday 11..
4
October 7th
Tutor Panel.
5
October 9th
Finish Scenarios, Start GradingHW: Complete tutor shadowing, start grading
6
October 11th
Finish Grading, Productivity tipsHW: Read the reading and the draft of the project: here by ✅ Must be done by Sunday, 11:59pm.

For discussion, we will use Slack, and you will submit any assignments (that aren’t Google Forms) to Gradescope. Let Marina know if you can’t access one of those platforms.


About

DSC 95 is a 2-unit, P/NP discussion-based course that is required of all first-time DSC tutors. The course is designed to guide new DSC tutors through their first quarter as a tutor. The specific topics we will cover are in the Schedule above.

Note that the class is not lecture based. We tell our students that the best way to learn concepts in data science is by doing data science, whether that’s actually writing pandas code or practicing runtime analysis problems. Likewise, the best way to learn how to teach data science is to actually teach data science, which you will get practice with in office hours and on your class’ discussion board. DSC 95 provides you with a forum to reflect on your teaching with a group of students who are also at the start of their teaching journeys.

There is exactly one goal in this class, and that is to get you to think very carefully about your teaching, to consider different scenarios that might arise (and how to deal with them), and to get you to genuinely enjoy teaching! (Okay, that was actually three goals, but they’re basically the same thing in my mind.) - Victor Huang, CS 375 @ Berkeley


People

Instructor
Marina Langlois
she/her/hers

malanglois@ucsd you know the rest

Hi, I am Marina and I am originally from Russia (not France!). I moved to Chicago to continue my education and I earned my PhD in Computer Science from UIC. Then I worked at Yeshiva University, NYC and then moved to San Diego. I was a member of CS department at first but moved to Data Science and I am loving it! I am excited to be your instructor for this quarter and you are welcome to stop by just to chat :)

Fun fact: I play ping pong!💃

Tutor
Anastasiya Markova
she/her

anmarkova@ucsd.edu

Tutor
Nicole Zhang
she/her

nwzhang@ucsd.edu

Remember that dsc-courses.github.io contains links to course websites of several DSC courses.


Requirements

DSC 95 is graded P/NP. There are three things you need to do to pass:

  1. Attend and participate in all DSC 95 class sessions.
    • This is a discussion-based class, so attendance and participation are mandatory. (How can you expect your students to be engaged if you’re not? 😉)
    • If you need to miss a DSC 95 class session for any reason (e.g. if you’re sick or have a conflicting exam), let Marina know in advance on Slack.
      • Note that lecture attendance for the class you’re tutoring for is not a requirement of DSC 95; your instructor may still require you to attend as part of your paid tutor duties.
  2. Complete weekly readings and homework assignments, TBD at 11:59PM.
    • Each week, we will provide you with readings and tasks to complete that should help you reflect on your time as a tutor so far. These will all be posted in the above Schedule.
    • Responses are graded on a 2/1/0 scale:
      • 2: Thoughtful and complete.
      • 1: Lack of effort.
      • 0: Not submitted.
    • Since the readings and homeworks are short (~1 hour per week), there are no slip days or extensions. We need your responses in no later than Tuesday night so that we can plan the next day’s class session.
    • You can miss at most 1 weekly assignment and still pass.
  3. Complete a satisfactory Final Activity.
    • More details to come.

Useful Information

Here’s an assortment of information that will be useful the first time you tutor.

Payment

To get paid for your tutoring hours, submit your hours biweekly into Ecotime.

Outside Tutoring

As a tutor, you are not permitted to approach students to offer services of any kind in exchange for pay, including tutoring services. This is considered solicitation for business and is strictly prohibited by University policy.

On a related note, as a tutor, you should only help students in your course through official channels (e.g. office hours or Ed). You may be friends with some of your students and have them on social media, but they should not message you on social media with questions about the course. All students should have equal access to course staff – your friends shouldn’t have an unfair advantage just because you happen to be a tutor.


Acknowledgements

The content of DSC 95 has evolved over the years, thanks to the contributions of many individuals. Special recognition goes to:

We extend our gratitude to all those who have played a role in shaping this course into what it is today.