Class Policies

Attendance

Attendance is required and certainly the most important aspect of this class. We’re going to be moving very quickly, and it’s easy to get left behind if you miss a class. If you must miss, let us know ahead of time, and make sure you complete the work we did that day on your own.

Internet use during class

Please don’t use Twitter, Facebook, email or chat clients during class. It’s distracting for all parties. If you’re ahead of the class in lab, make sure your neighbors are up to speed, too.

Emailing

If you’re going to email us, make sure to email us both. In general, we’re pretty flexible and responsive to your email, but remember we also have full-time jobs which keep us very busy.

Office hours

We strongly prefer office hours by appointment, so let us know if you need to meet in person and we can do it after class on Wednesdays. We’ll also have open google chat help line on a weekly basis, depending on when is good for the class.

Grading

Homework (10%) We expect you to post all of your work on a Web site. You should have one index page with links to your assignments. You will be responsible for updating this page. Late homework will not be accepted.

Lab (40%) Lab sessions are one of the most important aspects of this class. If you need to miss class, you are responsible for obtaining any materials or assignments from one of your classmates.

Critique (5%) Once during the semester, you will present a brief (5 minutes) critique of a piece of data journalism. What’s good about it? What could be improved? This will serve as a chance to see and discuss work that’s being published around the web.

Final project (45%) At the end of the class, you will produce a piece of explanatory journalism, demonstrating the skills you have learned. The project will primarily consist of written and/or visual work, posted online, and it will also include a brief presentation. More details about the project are here.