15-236: Saving Humanity with Computational ModelsSpring, 2021

Description

We live in a complex society and on a complex planet; but we tend to think about the world through simplified models and assumptions. How do we know if our simplified mental models make sense? Computational modeling is an approach to understanding our understanding of the world wherein we write down our mental models as computer code, mix in a bit of real data, and run it to see what we can learn. Models can help us to understand ourselves, the world around us, and how to shape the future.

This course will teach the basics of computational modeling through hands-on exercises investigating student-directed topics. We will cover the basics of computational modeling, finding and processing data, visualization, modularity, and interactivity. Students will build a series of models throughout the course, starting with smaller warm-ups and culminating in a final project in which students will work together to create a high-quality model and interactive web-based visualization with the goal of informing public discourse and policymaking.

Prerequisites

15112 and 21120

Evaluation

Students will be awarded points as follows:

• 1 point (total) for class participation; approximately 0.04 points per class.
• 2 points (each) for every assignment, of which 0.5 is awarded for critique participation and 1.5 for the assignment itself.
• 5 points for the final project, of which 0.5 is awarded for midpoint critique participation, 1 is awarded for the state of the project at the midpoint, 0.5 is awarded for final critique participation, and 3 for the project as finished.

The class contains 1 + 2*5 + 5 = 16 points in total. This means points are really big! They are each worth 6.25% of your grade.

Assignments may be submitted up to a week late for 50% of the points; however, no critique participation points will be awarded for a late assignment. Thus, the maximum score for a late assignment is 0.75 points.

Extra credit may be awarded for particularly excellent work.

How Assignments Work

Assignments in this class are evaluated by critique. This means that we will view and discuss your work as a class and provide constructive feedback. (Indeed, part of your assignment grade is based on giving and accepting feedback during critique sessions!)

In order to facilitate this process, you need to make sure the class has access to a working copy of your assignment. We will begin this process with an ad-hoc system, but will eventually use the AFS -> www capabilities provided by Computing Services.

Collaboration

Please work together. Talk about methods and ideas; provide feedback on each-others drafts; and, yes, show each-other source code! But (1) everything you turn in, you need to understand and type in yourself. No copy-pasting! (2) Always give credit. Comments and citations help you (and others) follow your reasoning!

Schedule

This schedule is subject to change in cases where my estimation of the time required to cover a topic does not match the reality.