DS 2002

This class, much like the minor as a whole, wasn't well done. This entire class was extremely disorganized, with units(if they even existed) being completely disconnected, and the class having no flow at all. I feel like I didn't learn much; only some random coding skills that aren't even that useful. Jason was very nice when you talked to him, but he only showed up to class ~50% of the time, even though half of our classes were online anyways. Because of this, the instruction was sporadic at best, and it wasn't very cool when he gave us a final project centered around the last two weeks of class which he didn't show up to at all. If you don't have to take this class for the minor, don't take it at all.

Professor Williamson has a lot of experience in the field of data science, but not any experience in teaching. He cancels half of the classes and I barely learned anything throughout the semester. The assignments were really different and there was no coherent theme in the class. If you want to get a hold of him when you need help, you'd be better off just finding the solution elsewhere because he either takes forever to answer his emails or will give you the most vague answers that are 4 words or less. Also, Professor Williamson sent a message in the class Discord group at 2 am the night of the unfortunate shooting talking about the lab we had due later that week. This really rubbed me the wrong way because obviously none of us were worried about a lab when there was a university-wide lockdown and three students passed away. Finally, he takes forever to grade assignments. I have yet to get my grade in SIS and I have not gotten an assignment back from October. The data science minor at UVA is very new and small, so I understand that UVA will hire anyone with enough experience. But if you want to pursue the Data Science Minor and still have a few years, I suggest you wait until there's a new professor teaching this course.

#tCFfall22

This is genuinely the worst class I have ever taken with a professor that literally can't even bother to teach us anything to do the assignments. I don't think you should ever take this class, and it honestly may be the reason I drop the minor. I have learned nothing, and I can't even get through an assignment without asking for help, which he isn't very good at providing. Awful.

The other reviews are pretty accurate with regards to the classroom structure, as it is pretty nonexistent. However, the instructor is very forgiving and open to anything. Moreover, this class is pretty chill, relaxed, and almost all the work seems to be based off completion. Quizzes are open note and projects/labs/hws are pretty much all from the examples he gives in class. I enjoyed how easy this class was, but sometimes I felt like instructions were unclear and that I didn't learn much from this class as I would've liked. #tCFS24

Class structure still remains the same as previous reviews- very disorganized. He cancels half of his classes, and most of the time, he makes his decisions either the night before or the day of, which makes it hard to properly plan. The other half of the time, the lectures are either in person or on Zoom. As far as homeworks go, if you have prior knowledge in programming (as in have at least taken SDE), then the homework assignments are relatively simple. If not, then honestly good luck since he doesn't teach anything useful and as for programming, you can expect to have to learn most of the things by yourself. Although, he is really nice and if you ask him for office hour, he will most likely set up a time with you and help you through the assignment. Other than that, the assignments gets graded really slowly, and there honestly isn't a lot of assignments throughout the course. The last two months are just project works with a group (you can choose your group) and that's about it. Overall nice professor, but very disorganized, does not teach well, and you won't learn anything much.

#tCFF23

#tCFF23. Williamson is a horrible professor and has zero organizational skills. you can rely on him for about nothing and the class is legit all over the place. you barely learn anything and he is hard to reach. the TA is practically non existent because he has not replied to a SINGLE one of my emails. ABSOLUTE nightmare. dont take this class.

- Prof skipped like half the classes but is a chill guy

- A couple of fun assignments

- Insanely easy A

I didn't mind this course and it was pretty easy to get an A if you have some programming knowledge. Williamson is a chill guy who is really interested in data science and happy to talk to you individually. He isn't a picky grader. The course schedule was a little disorganized and sometimes it felt like we weren't properly prepared for assignments, but they were always doable and you can ask questions. Groupwork is encouraged and we sometimes worked through practice assignments as a class which was very helpful.