Syllabus
Last updated on 2024-07-26 | Edit this page
This is the curriculum for CSC 467, Big Data Engineering. The website is built with The Carpentries Workbench.
- Instructor: Linh B. Ngo
- Office: UNA 138
- Office Hours: By appointment
- Email: lngo AT wcupa DOT edu
- Phone: 610-436-2595
Course Information
- The course runs from August 26, 2024 until December 09, 2024. It is an in-person course.
Required Materials:
- Mining of Massive Datasets. Julre Leskovec, Anand Rajaraman, and Jeffrey David Ullman.
- Author’s Textbook Download Page.
Course Description
This course will investigate engineering approaches in solving challenges in data-intensive and big data computing problems. Course topics include distributed tools and parallel algorithms that help with acquiring, cleaning, and mining very large amount of data.
Learning Objectives
Course Student Learning Outcomes (CSLO):
- Be able to setup and deploy appropriate data engineering technologies to manage big data sets.
- Be able to understand MapReduce, one of the key enabling programming concepts.
- Be able to implement key data mining techniques using Spark programming libraries.
BS in CS Program Objectives (CSPO):
- Be able to apply theory, techniques, and methodologies to create and/or maintain high quality computing systems that function effectively and reliably in the emerging and future information infrastructure.
ABET Objectives (APO):
- Analyze a complex computing problem and to apply principles of computing and other relevant disciplines to identify solutions (ABET 1).
- Design, implement, and evaluate a computing-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements in the context of the program’s discipline (ABET 2).
Assessments and Grading:
Method of Evaluation
| Assessment | % of Final Grade | Course Objectives Assessed | Program Objectives Assessed | ABET Objectives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assignments | 40% | 1,2,3 | 1 | 1 |
| Course Project | 40% | 1,2,3 | 1 | 2 |
| Class Participation | 5% | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Final | 15% | 1,2,3 | 1 | 1 |
University Policies
Academic & Personal Integrity
It is the responsibility of each student to adhere to the university’s standards for academic integrity. Violations of academic integrity include any act that violates the rights of another student in academic work, that involves misrepresentation of your own work, or that disrupts the instruction of the course. Other violations include (but are not limited to): cheating on assignments or examinations; plagiarizing, which means copying any part of another’s work and/or using ideas of another and presenting them as one’s own without giving proper credit to the source; selling, purchasing, or exchanging of term papers; falsifying of information; and using your own work from one class to fulfill the assignment for another class without significant modification. Proof of academic misconduct can result in the automatic failure and removal from this course. For questions regarding Academic Integrity, the No-Grade Policy, Sexual Harassment, or the Student Code of Conduct, students are encouraged to refer to the Department Undergraduate Handbook, the Undergraduate Course Catalog, the Ram’s Eye View, or the University Website.
Students with Disabilities
If you have a disability that requires accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please present your letter of accommodations and meet with me as soon as possible so that I can support your success in an informed manner. Accommodations cannot be granted retroactively. If you would like to know more about West Chester University’s Services for Students with Disabilities (OSSD), please visit them at 223 Lawrence Center. Their phone number is 610-436-2564, their fax number is 610-436-2600, their email address is ossd@wcupa.edu, or visit the OSSD website. In an effort to assist students who either receive or may believe they are entitled to receive accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the University has appointed a student advocate to be a contact for students who have questions regarding the provision of their accommodations or their right to accommodations. The advocate will assist any student who may have questions regarding these rights. The Director for Equity and Compliance/Title IX Coordinator has been designated in this role. Students who need assistance with their rights to accommodations should contact them at 610-436-2433.
The University’s Americans with Disabilities policy is available on the website. If you encounter an area of this course that is not accessible to you, please contact me.
Excused Absences Policy
Students are advised to carefully read and comply with the excused absences policy, including absences for university-sanctioned events, contained in the WCU Undergraduate Catalog. In particular, please note that the responsibility for meeting academic requirements rests with the student, that this policy does not excuse students from completing required academic work, and that professors can require a fair alternative to attendance on those days that students must be absent from class in order to participate in a University-Sanctioned Event.
Reporting Incidents of Sexual Violence
West Chester University and its faculty are committed to assuring a safe and productive educational environment for all students. In order to comply with the requirements of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the University’s commitment to offering supportive measures in accordance with the new regulations issued under Title IX, the University requires faculty members to report incidents of sexual violence shared by students to the University’s Title IX Coordinator. The only exceptions to the faculty member’s reporting obligation are when incidents of sexual violence are communicated by a student during a classroom discussion, in a writing assignment for a class, or as part of a University-approved research project. Faculty members are obligated to report sexual violence or any other abuse of a student who was, or is, a child (a person under 18 years of age) when the abuse allegedly occurred to the person designated in the University Protection of Minors Policy. Information regarding the reporting of sexual violence and the resources that are available to victims of sexual violence is set forth at the webpage for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Inclusive Learning Environment and Anti-Racist Statement
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to West Chester University’s mission as reflected in our Mission Statement, Values Statement, Vision Statement and Strategic Plan: Pathways to Student Success. We disavow racism and all actions that silence, threaten, or degrade historically marginalized groups in the U.S. We acknowledge that all members of this learning community may experience harm stemming from forms of oppression including but not limited to classism, ableism, heterosexism, sexism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia, and recognize that these forms of oppression are compounded by racism.
Our core commitment as an institution of higher education shapes our expectation for behavior within this learning community, which represents diverse individual beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences. Courteous and respectful behavior, interactions, and responses are expected from all members of the University. We must work together to make this a safe and productive learning environment for everyone. Part of this work is recognizing how race and other aspects of who we are shape our beliefs and our experiences as individuals. It is not enough to condemn acts of racism. For real, sustainable change, we must stand together as a diverse coalition against racism and oppression of any form, anywhere, at any time.
Resources for education and action are available through WCU’s Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI), DEI committees within departments or colleges, the student ombudsperson, and centers on campus committed to doing this work (e.g., Dowdy Multicultural Center, Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Center for Trans and Queer Advocacy).
Guidance on how to report incidents of discrimination and harassment is available at the University’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Emergency Preparedness
All students are encouraged to sign up for the University’s free WCU ALERT service, which delivers official WCU emergency text messages directly to your cell phone. For more information, visit https://www.wcupa.edu/wcualert. To report an emergency, call the Department of Public Safety at 610-436-3311.
Electronic Mail Policy
It is expected that faculty, staff, and students activate and maintain regular access to University provided e-mail accounts. Official university communications, including those from your instructor, will be sent through your university e-mail account. You are responsible for accessing that mail to be sure to obtain official University communications. Failure to access will not exempt individuals from the responsibilities associated with this course.
Course Topics and Schedules
| Week | Topic | Assessments |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Big Data | - | |
| MapReduce Programming Paradigm | - | |
| Data Parallel Computing Environment in Python | - | |
| Frequent Itemsets | - | |
| Locality-Sensitive Hashing | - | |
| Clustering | - | |
| Dimensionality Reduction | - | |
| Recommendation Systems | - | |
| Page Rank | - | |
| Decision Trees | - | |
| Data Parallel Computing with Spark | - |