DATSC 401 - Capstone in Data Science

This course is the culminating experience of the data science major, designed to integrate and apply the knowledge, skills, and tools students have developed throughout their coursework. Students will address a complex, real-world data science problem from start to finish, defining a research question or business challenge, acquiring and cleaning data, applying appropriate statistical and computational methods, developing models or analytical pipelines, and effectively communicating findings to both technical and non-technical audiences. Emphasis is placed on project management, ethical considerations, reproducibility, and professional presentation. The capstone provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the data science process and to produce a portfolio-ready project that showcases their ability to generate actionable insights from data.