SIT731 Data Wrangling Unit Guide Trimester 1 2025 | DU

Contents

• Welcome
• Who is the unit team?
• Unit chair details
• Other members of the team and how to contact them
• Administrative queries
• About this unit
• Unit development in response to student feedback
• Learning Outcomes
• Assessing your achievement of the unit learning outcomes
• Hurdle requirements
• Summative assessment task 1
• Your learning experiences in this unit
• Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - on-campus unit enrolment
• Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment Typical study commitment
• Note
• Unit learning resources
• Essential learning resources
• Recommended learning resources
• Where to access unit resources
• Key dates for this study period
• Unit weekly activities

Welcome

Data Science (DS) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are popular fields in making sense of data that have been collected in large quantities from various sources. Performing accurate exploration and modelling using DS and AI heavily relies on appropriately prepared data. Data wrangling is the process of preparing the raw data appropriately for modelling purposes. This unit aims to learn various data wrangling methodologies and programming techniques to perform them. This include programming in Python for performing various data wrangling tasks, learning data extraction methods from different sources, working with different types of data, storing and retrieving them, applying sampling techniques and inspecting them, cleaning them by identifying outliers/anomalies, handling missing data, transforming, selecting and extracting features, performing exploratory analysis, visualisation using various tools, summarising data appropriately, performing basic statistical analysis and modelling using basic machine learning. Further, techniques for maintaining data privacy and exercising ethics in data manipulation will be covered in this unit.

This Unit Guide provides you with the key information about this unit. Please read it carefully and refer to it frequently throughout the study period. Your unit site also provides information about your rights and responsibilities. We will assume you have read this before the unit commences, and we expect you to refer to it throughout the study period.

To be successful in this unit, you must:

• Read all materials in preparation for your learning activities and follow up each with further study and research on the topic
• Start your assessment tasks well ahead of the due date
• Read or listen to all feedback carefully and use it in your future work
• Attend and engage in all educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities and other learning experiences as part of the unit design

Who is the Unit Team?

Unit chair: leads the teaching team and is responsible for the overall delivery of this unit
Unit chair details

Details of other teaching staff will be provided on the unit site at the start of the trimester.

Administrative Queries

• Check out the 'SEBE Student Hub' section on your unit site
• Contact your Unit Chair or Campus Leader
• Drop in or contact Student Central to speak with a Student Adviser

For additional support information, please see the Rights and Responsibilities section under 'Content' in your unit site. About this unit

Unit Development in Response to Student Feedback

Every trimester, we ask students to tell us, through eVALUate, what helped and hindered their learning in each Unit. You are strongly encouraged to provide constructive feedback for this Unit when eVALUate opens (you will be emailed a link). In the previous editions of the unit, students have told us that these aspects of the unit have helped them to achieve the learning outcomes:

• The availability of engaging, step-by-step tutorial videos and many exercises in Python that emphasised developing real-life data analysis\modeling skills.
• The lecture notes, and
• Using OnTrack for task submission and feedback, very clear marking guidelines and obligations set, and involvement of the unit team.

The following aspects of the unit have been introduced, enhanced or retained in response to feedback from students who have undertaken this unit in previous trimesters:

• The feedback for this unit has remained positive, with only minor suggestions for improvement, which were implemented in the course of the unit update for this year.

If you have any concerns about the Unit during the trimester, please contact the unit teaching team - preferably early in the trimester - so we can discuss your concerns, and make adjustments, if appropriate. 

SIT731 Learning Outcomes

Each Unit in your course is a building block towards Deakin's Graduate Learning Outcomes - not all Units develop and assess every Graduate Learning Outcome (GLO).

Assessing your achievement of the Unit Learning Outcomes

Hurdle Requirements

Summative Assessment (tasks that will be graded or marked)

NOTE: It is your responsibility to keep a backup copy of every assignment and the materials used to develop/complete it where possible (e.g. written/digital reports, essays, videos, images). In the unusual event that one of your submissions becomes corrupted, is incorrectly submitted or otherwise lost, you may be asked to submit the backup copy. Any work you submit may be checked by electronic or other means to detect breaches of academic integrity such as collusion, plagiarism and contract cheating. You must understand your responsibility to act with honesty and integrity in your studies, as Deakin takes all breaches very seriously. Make sure you read your rights and responsibilities as a student in this unit to find out more about academic integrity.

Deakin has a universal assessment submission time of 8 pm AEST/AEDT. A late penalty will apply to assessments submitted after 11.59 pm AEDT/AEST.

Summative Assessment Task 1

Your learning experiences in this unit

Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - on-campus unit enrolment

1 x 3-hour seminar per week, weekly meetings.

Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment

Online independent and collaborative learning, including 1 x 2-hour online seminar per week, weekly meetings. 

Typical study commitment

Students will, on average, spend 150 hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit.

This will include educator-guided online learning activities within the unit site.

The learning and assessment activities for this unit will include watching weekly videos, attending and participating in group activities (online or in class), completing the learning and assessment tasks, and associated reading and study time.

All unit learning materials are provided in the unit site and OnTrack. This includes the following resources organised for 11 weeks of learning to enable you to achieve the unit learning outcomes:

You are expected to complete the prescribed readings, watch the concept and demonstration videos in the unit site, and complete unit tasks in OnTrack. As you complete the tasks, you will be able to collect evidence for justifying how you have met the unit learning outcomes through your portfolio. The process of developing your portfolio is simple and easy, so keep that in mind as you read the assessment instructions below.

Engage with the learning resources each week on the Unit site before attending the seminar or weekly group activities online. These resources will help you prepare for the group activities. Each week's seminar, or online group activity, will help develop your understanding of unit concepts and skills.

Unit tasks within the portfolio are designed to help scaffold your learning, as well as help you demonstrate achievement of unit learning outcomes. You will have opportunities to receive and incorporate feedback from your tutor, allowing you to freely ask questions and clarify misunderstandings without the risk of losing marks.

Make sure that you take advantage of the formative feedback process associated with the learning portfolio and weekly tasks. During this interaction you can ask questions and clarify doubts to make sure that you will be fully prepared for this assessment.

Note

At Deakin, courses are delivered within a learning environment that provides all students with equitable and consistent access to facilities, infrastructure, resources, and support to assist student progress and achievement of learning outcomes.

We have introduced new terms to reflect learning activities to enhance your learning experience, aligning with our innovative DeakinDesign learning principles and practices. The new terms better reflect how teaching teams will guide you through your learning journey and the types of learning experiences you will have.

'Lectures' are the activities where teaching staff engage you through presentations with student participation.

In 'seminars', an educator will guide you in a smaller group of students through highly interactive discussions and activities.

Your units may also include 'practical experiences' such as 'laboratory', 'workshops', 'clinical skills' and more. These hands-on activities typically take place in specialised facilities with industry tools, equipment or technology to allow you to apply your knowledge practically

Some Other Terms

If you see a 'meeting' in your timetable, this is an optional drop-in session.

'Assessments' or 'team-based learning' indicate an in-class evaluation of your skills or knowledge. A 'pre-assessment practice' could be scheduled to prepare you for these assessments.

Find Out More

Take a look at the Learning Activities webpage for a full list of the terminology changes and reasons they were changed. Unit learning resources

Your unit learning resources can be accessed from your unit site.

There is no prescribed text. Unit materials are provided via the unit site. This includes unit topic readings and references to further information.

The texts and reading list for SIT731 can be found via the University Library.

Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month before the start of that teaching period, so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.

Essential learning resources

Essential learning resources will be provided via the unit site. Further, relevant technical documentation will be linked to in the relevant modules on the unit site. Recommended learning resources

The Deakin Software Library provides students with access to software that they may need or find useful for their studies at Deakin.