Assignments


Assignment strcture

Resources:

1. Plagiarisms Test

The first assignment of this course is to pass the plagiarism test and obtain a certificate at the master and doctoral level. Plagiarism is a serious academic misconduct. You will receive zero grade on plagiarized work and there may be other consequences. We have been told not to do this maybe since primary school, and we are always assuming we know what plagiarism is. However, we may assume we know too much (e.g., famous cases of plagiarism).

You do not need to take this test if you have comparable certification, but the validity of your certification needs to be approved by the instructor.

“All assignments in this course may be processed by TurnItIn, a tool that compares submitted material to an archived database of published work to check for potential plagiarism. Other methods may also be used to determine if a paper is the student’s original work. Regardless of the results of any TurnItIn submission, the faculty member will make the final determination as to whether or not a paper has been plagiarized” (Statement from the Faculty Writing Committee: Guidelines for Preventing Plagiarism).

For this assignment, please submit your certificate as a file via Canvas


2. Participation

2.1 Hands-on practices (5%)

The hands-on practices help you prepare for the final quantitative test. There are three types of of practices:

2.1.1 “Paper practice”

The is a one-page practice on paper. You are expected to complete the practice of the week after reading the reading materials. It needs to be submitted at the beginning of each class and will be explained in class. This test is different from the final test questions but cover the same concepts or methods. For this practice, you can seek immediate help in class or during office hours.

Paper practice of the week needs to be submitted at the beginning of that week’s class. For example, you should submit the PP of week 5 at the beginning of week 5’s class.

Access the paper practice by week here.

2.1.2 In-class practice

This is an in-class practice exercise. You will receive an Excel workbook containing data and questions. The instructor will guide you through the analysis step-by-step using Excel. To prepare, please review the workbook’s contents before class to familiarize yourself with the material. During the lecture sessions, you can follow along and even practice further on your own time. While the questions in this practice exercise differ from those on the final test, they cover the same concepts and methods. If you need help, you can ask questions in class or during office hours.

Access the in-class practice by week here.

2.1.3 Take home practice

You can practice the final quantitative test questions using the practice dataset we provided. The practice dataset has the same structure with the dataset that will be used in the final test. The only difference is the actual data. For this practice, you can seek help during office hours or workshops.


2.2 In class participation (5%)

Your participation is assessed by the instructor and TA based on your performance in class during the lecture, practice, and TA sessions.

Class attendance is not mandatory but is part of your participation grade. The participation grade is designed so that you can easily get most of the points as long as you show up to class, ask questions and attend office hours. If you need to miss class for any reason, there are a few options:

  1. The first class absence, with prior notification via email, will not affect participation points. You are still responsible for completing all class readings and submitting assignments on the respective due dates.
  2. For each class absence after the first, with no prior notification, 1% will be deducted from the participation grade (i.e., maximum penalty is 5%). You are still responsible for completing all class readings and submitting assignments on the respective due dates.
  3. If you need accommodation for legitimate medical reasons, please contact Disability and Access (D&A) and request an Accommodation Letter as soon as possible. Upon receiving the letter, there will be no penalty on participation points. You will still be responsible for completing assignments, but we’ll work with you to accommodate deadlines. Letters need to be received by 10/31. This is a hard deadline. If the D&A office is over-booked throughout the semester, let us know your progress as soon as possible.
  4. The class is designed for in-person learning. Zoom/virtual recordings are not available. Please make arrangements with your peers for class notes if you need to miss a class.

If you have a situation that is not taken care of by this note, feel free to reach out, and we will work with you.


3. Customized Learning

You may want to develop your own skill set over the semester. For example, learning how to use Python and R rather than using Stata or Excel. This assignment accommodates such a need. This is a DIY and self-motivated module.

Expected deliverables:

  • Learning plan proposal.
  • Self-evaluation report of completion.


3.1 Learning plan proposal (10%)

Examples from previous semesters: Learning plan

You are responsible to develop an actionable and feasible learning plan. There is no required structure of the plan, but it should have the following contents:

  1. An analysis of your background, career goals, and needs of learning.
  2. Be concrete about your overall learning goals.
  3. Break down your overall goals into specific and actionable items.
  4. The plan should cover the major themes of our weekly sessions. Your plan does not need to synchronize with our weekly topics.
  5. A feasible timeline.
  6. A concrete plan for assessing your performance.
  7. Maximum length 2 pages, use the space efficiently and keep your plan concise.

You can share learning plans with others. You can even assemble learning groups. But this is NOT a group assignment, and you will be assessed individually.

In reality, the most challenging part is “you don’t known what you don’t know.” We, and ChatGPT, are here to help. We will have in-class group discussion and TA hours for you to design a learning plan that will fit your career goals.

You cannot substantially revise your proposal to lower the requirements after it is finalized.


3.2 Completion (20%)

You will assess your own performance using the evaluation plan you proposed. Submit your completion report via Canvas. No required format and page number for the report, but it should at least include the following items:

  1. Evidence showing your completion of the planned modules/courses (e.g., screenshot, certificate, etc.; changing the page layout & resizing any screenshots and certificates is okay).
  2. Reflection on how these learned new skills can help your future career.
  3. What’s your next step.

A completion report in any file format is fine (e.g., PPT/Excel/Word). Although there is no page limit, considering a report that is simple and concise (e.g., equivalent to a 2-page Word document).

3.3 Resources for learning


4. Quantitative Test

Review the questions here: Quantitative test (subject to revision for clarity)

This is a partial open-book test. You can review and practice on these questions using the sample dataset. When you take the final test, a different dataset will be provided, but the questions will be the same (random selected, not all the questions for time sake).


5. Qualitative Group Project

Review the questions here: Qualitative (subject to revision for clarity)

This is a take-home and open-book research paper. Students are expected to work in groups (5 people max per group) and submit MS Word documents on Canvas before the deadlines.

Resources:


Late submission

All work is due as indicated on the course schedule. Late submission will be taken a 30% off the total possible points as late penalty. For example, for an assignment with 100 total possible points, if you submit late and graded 80, your final grade for this assignment will be 50 (= 80 − 100 ∗ 30%). Please send me a notice if you have an emergency (neither travel arrangements nor computer problems are emergencies). The last week of class is the final makeup date for all late assignments.