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Advanced Data Analytics & Visualization With R
Compelling stories with data visualizations grab your attention and spark discussion. Great data storytelling takes narrative, analysis, and technical understanding. This course takes you step-by-step through the process of cleaning, processing and analyzing curated public data using the programming language R. You will make static graphics and animations, plus interactive charts and maps; developing and evaluating the stories they tell within your cohort of diverse professionals.
This course provides a broad introduction to the R programming language and the RStudio graphical user interface used by top data scientists, newsrooms, social scientists, economists, and academia. It is an advanced language for data analysis, data visualization, and data science used for decision making in business or for developing stories to communicate complex data.
Instructor, Peter Aldhous, an award-winning data journalist uses R to report stories like these.
Track The Brutal 2021 Wildfire Season With These Updating Charts And Maps
The Delta Variant Could Create “Two Americas” Of COVID, Experts Warn
We Trained A Computer To Search For Hidden Spy Planes. This Is What It Found
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Course Outcomes
Learn how to create effective graphs, charts and maps with R through hands-on skills practice in the online platform and personal feedback from your instructor. Expand your network through class discussions and feedback within your small cohort. You don’t need to be a programmer to benefit from this course.
Software required: RStudio (free version) and R.
- Learn R syntax, dig into data analysis and data visualizations using tidyverse packages.
- Acquire, clean, and process curated public data.
- Develop reproducible analyses and reports.
- Work with geographic data and mapping in ggplot2.
- Create composite charts, maps, and animations, for print and the web.
- Collaborate with your cohort to evaluate data stories using best practices.
- Earn a certificate (PDF) upon completion of the course requirements.
- Receive a LinkedIn badge to add to your profile to signify accomplishment of the course.
This program is a skill-based learning experience for intermediate to advanced professionals. Data Visualization for Storytellers is suggested for beginners.
Meet Your Instructors & Facilitators
Instructors subject to change.
Peter Aldhous
Peter Aldhous is a science and data reporter based in San Francisco. He also teaches investigative reporting and data visualization in the Science Communication Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Peter got his start in journalism in 1989 as a reporter for Nature in London, fresh from a PhD in animal behavior. Later he worked as European correspondent for Science, news editor for New Scientist and chief news and features editor with Nature, before moving to California in 2005 to become New Scientist‘s San Francisco bureau chief. From 2015 to 2022 he worked on the science desk at BuzzFeed News. Peter’s maps of U.S. government surveillance flights were named data visualization of the year in the Global Editors Network’s 2016 Data Journalism Awards; that project also won gold for data journalism and the overall Most Beautiful prize in the 2016 Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards. A follow-up project, which used machine learning to identify further covert spy planes, won the JSK Fellowships award for innovation in GEN’s 2018 Data Journalism Awards. He was a finalist in the Online category of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2019 Communication Awards for his data-driven coverage of wildfires.
Participant Experience
We’re With You All The Way
Work With Experienced Instructors & Mentors
Our instructors are industry leaders, with years of experience in their field. Every member of the team has the academic savvy and real-world practice to support you on your learning journey. Gain the full value of their expertise through in-depth discussions, thoughtful and critical feedback on assignments, and live sessions.
Make Connections With A Professional Network
You’ll gain access to an international network of professionals building skills similar to your own. We provide a range of opportunities to engage with your peers and instructors, share insights, and keep the conversation going long after you’ve completed the course.
Collaborate & Engage
We offer a supportive space for collaboration. We’ve designed the learner’s journey to help you fully engage with course content, guided by seasoned professionals and a community of peers and mentors. Engage in live group discussions, complete lessons, and share and offer feedback on assignments.
Practice & Apply New Skills
We believe the best way to learn new skills is by doing. Gain mastery of each new skill through creative activities designed to hone your learning, culminating in the final project. At the end of this course, you will have gained in-depth knowledge, a new skill set, and a portfolio to immediately apply to your job or new career.
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Syllabus & Course Format
Course Format
This online course includes hands-on, interactive learning activities designed to build your skills as you progress through each week. Lessons include videos, audio files, tutorials, case studies, discussions and assignments.
Weekly Live Sessions
Each week your cohort will interact with the instructor during a virtual one-hour live-session. These Zoom sessions are in real-time to give you access to expert instruction, personalized support, and the network of professionals we are known for at Berkeley Advanced Media Institute. All live sessions are recorded for future viewing.
Weekly live Zoom sessions are held on Wednesdays from 9:00am - 10:00am PST.
Course Syllabus
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Who Should Attend?
This workshop is for people interested in a rapid-paced, immersive experience in advanced data analysis tools & techniques: data analysts, communication professionals, journalists, social scientist, academia, faculty, and those interested in becoming proficient in learning to communicate data with clarity. It is ideal for those looking to change careers or to improve their skills for a job upgrade.
Need help justifying this training to your employer? Please check out our customizable document.
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Course Fee
Standard registration is $840 USD. Early registration is encouraged as courses fill up quickly. Discounts for early registrations are applied automatically at checkout.
Team Training: Teams of five plus may be eligible for a group discount. Contact us for details.
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Prerequisites
This is an advanced level workshop. Participants must have prior experience with data analysis. No previous coding expertise is required, but you should come prepared to learn how to turn questions about data into code. If you are comfortable writing Excel formulas, this is the next step.
For beginners interested in learning the basics of data visualization, working with spreadsheets, formulas and point-and-click tools for creating data visuzliations please see Data Visualization for Storytellers.
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Requirements
Please read this prior to registering for the course.
- All participants must have a computer or laptop for use during this course.
- Computer or laptops must be WiFi ready. Note that a Chromebook WILL NOT work and Lenovo laptops are known to be incompatible with some software used in this course.
- All participants must have access to required software and tools.
- If participants are using an employer owned computer, they must have administrative privileges in order to regularly download and update software.
- Proficiency in English (instruction is delivered in English).
Prior to the course start date, you will receive more information with a list of software to install. If you are using an employer owned computer, you must have administrative privileges in order to regularly download and update software.Some software requires an up-to-date operating system to run. It is important to have everything installed in advance of the course start date.
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Additional Information
Please review the Terms and Conditions for more information about our course policies.