DATA200 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Fardina Alam DATA200 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/25/2025	the content of the class is actually quite interesting, but the way fardina ran it made it feel extremely tedious (but still an easy a). for example, she said that attendance was not mandatory, but every class gave us an "in class activity" that required us to get an access code from her - if we did not have the code or had the incorrect code, we would get a 0 on this assignment. throughout the semester, we also had a project with certain checkpoints where we did presentations - she would call teams randomly to present, but for one of the checkpoints, her instructions said that teams would go in numerical order. when someone in the class pointed this out to her, she started arguing with them and eventually had her ta change the instructions during class so she could start calling teams randomly. additionally, her rubrics at times felt a little arbitrary - for example, on the final project report, she would penalize for items that she did not explicitly say to include as part of her instructions. overall, logistically, i did not like how the class was manged. however, the content itself is interesting, and workload wise it was pretty relaxed - we had 6 homeworks (some of which included some extra credit points), 5 discussion board posts, a semester long project (with 3 presentations and a final report), 2 midterms, and a final exam, all of which in general were pretty easy and straightforward
Fardina Alam DATA200 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/17/2025	I had to take this class for my Data Science minor, as was everyone else I believe. The class was a lot of busy work, but wasn't necessarily hard. Lectures were not mandatory, but there were in-class assignments almost everyday when you learned something new, and you kind of had to be there to complete them. Some extra credit assignments that were very helpful, and bonus on the final exam/all exams. There was a semester long group project that was kind of a pain, and weighted heavily in your grade, but if you have a good group it helps. Tip, if you go to office hours with what you have completed for your project, she will tell you exactly what you need to do/change to get a good grade, as she was strict with grading. If you are taking this class for the Data Science minor, you do not have a lot to worry about.
Fardina Alam DATA200 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 06/16/2025	This class was super interesting and different from other data science courses! Professor Alam made the topics really engaging. It was my first time doing a data science project without any coding, and it actually made me more curious about the field and its ethical side. The in-class activities were fun and helped a lot. Overall, it’s a pretty easy course if you stay on top of the material—and no programming needed!
Fardina Alam DATA200 Anonymous 05/10/2025	I wasn’t a fan of the Lockdown Browser at all—glad they got rid of it after the third quiz!
Fardina Alam DATA200 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2024	I thought Professor Alam was very nice and knowledgeable about the topics, but sometimes the class does feel like a waste of your time. I actually thought the content was very applicable to my field of study and will be really helpful for the real world, but it was a lot of very tedious busywork and there were many errors that caused confusion with the assignments and exams. It didn't seem like her or the TAs cared about the class which was understandable but unfortunate. Overall, it was at times interesting but I wish the format of the class was better and required less work.
Fardina Alam DATA200 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2024	She is very nice, the class is pretty calm as well but it is a bit boring. She is also usually late to class, so after a while I just started showing up to class like 5-10 minutes late as well. Great professor that cares about your learning.
Fardina Alam DATA200 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2024	This is not a useful class. The topics discussed aren't important, and it's just tedious work. The homework and exams are not hard but very ambiguous and contain many errors that must be clarified. Fardina also doesn't seem to put much effort into this class knowing it's not that hard. She doesn't answer questions properly at times, especially through Piazza, and she doesn't tell you ahead of time whether there will be an in-class activity or not, so you'll have to go to class. This isn't a hard class but it certainly isn't a good use of your time either.
Fardina Alam DATA200 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/26/2024	DATA200 is a joke of a class, don't really need to worry about it. The most you need to do is go through the slides (they're posted and you don't really need to too besides in-class activities and 1 debate), there are a lot but 50% you can skip, and take some notes to understand the concepts that aren't completely self-explanatory (there aren't many of those). The 2 mid-terms are easy and so is the final. Realistically you come out of this class with a B at least if you never attended a class with all the projects and free homeworks. She's a nice professor who cares, but also recognizes it's not too serious of a class, answers questions and is accommodating.
Fardina Alam DATA200 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/19/2024	Super easy and manageable class. Fardina is a kind person and wants the best for her students, but lectures can be extremely boring sometimes. Most people end up skipping class if there isn't an in-class activity, and I honestly don't blame them. Exams are pretty easy but can be lengthy. Expect to conduct a semester-long survey data science group project, so make sure to not partner with any lazy bums b/c that can easily tank your grade. I understand the importance of this class if you are doing something like a data science major/minor, but in my personal opinion, I wouldn't recommend taking this course if you actually want to learn something interesting (besides an easy A). She is a great person though.
Fardina Alam DATA200 Anonymous 04/24/2024	DATA200 is an interesting class, in concept, but this class isn't really managed well. Random in-class debate that wasn't listed anywhere on the syllabus (which is managed horribly), attendance is somewhat required... not a problem, if lectures were interesting. Professor will just read off the slides, occasionally text just at random in the middle of a presentation (stopping the lecture), in addition to being many minutes late setting things up. Often TAs would have to take over class without warning. Assignments, HWs and Exams are all arbitrary. Criteria doesn't feel terribly clear, exams feel more based on trying to memorize arbitrary definitions and link them up to not-well-defined concepts than actual ethical practices, when you aren't doing things a 13 year old could do.

Fardina Alam
DATA200

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/25/2025

the content of the class is actually quite interesting, but the way fardina ran it made it feel extremely tedious (but still an easy a). for example, she said that attendance was not mandatory, but every class gave us an "in class activity" that required us to get an access code from her - if we did not have the code or had the incorrect code, we would get a 0 on this assignment. throughout the semester, we also had a project with certain checkpoints where we did presentations - she would call teams randomly to present, but for one of the checkpoints, her instructions said that teams would go in numerical order. when someone in the class pointed this out to her, she started arguing with them and eventually had her ta change the instructions during class so she could start calling teams randomly. additionally, her rubrics at times felt a little arbitrary - for example, on the final project report, she would penalize for items that she did not explicitly say to include as part of her instructions. overall, logistically, i did not like how the class was manged. however, the content itself is interesting, and workload wise it was pretty relaxed - we had 6 homeworks (some of which included some extra credit points), 5 discussion board posts, a semester long project (with 3 presentations and a final report), 2 midterms, and a final exam, all of which in general were pretty easy and straightforward

Fardina Alam
DATA200

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/17/2025

I had to take this class for my Data Science minor, as was everyone else I believe. The class was a lot of busy work, but wasn't necessarily hard. Lectures were not mandatory, but there were in-class assignments almost everyday when you learned something new, and you kind of had to be there to complete them. Some extra credit assignments that were very helpful, and bonus on the final exam/all exams. There was a semester long group project that was kind of a pain, and weighted heavily in your grade, but if you have a good group it helps. Tip, if you go to office hours with what you have completed for your project, she will tell you exactly what you need to do/change to get a good grade, as she was strict with grading. If you are taking this class for the Data Science minor, you do not have a lot to worry about.

Fardina Alam
DATA200

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
06/16/2025

This class was super interesting and different from other data science courses! Professor Alam made the topics really engaging. It was my first time doing a data science project without any coding, and it actually made me more curious about the field and its ethical side. The in-class activities were fun and helped a lot. Overall, it’s a pretty easy course if you stay on top of the material—and no programming needed!

Fardina Alam
DATA200

Anonymous
05/10/2025

I wasn’t a fan of the Lockdown Browser at all—glad they got rid of it after the third quiz!

Fardina Alam
DATA200

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2024

I thought Professor Alam was very nice and knowledgeable about the topics, but sometimes the class does feel like a waste of your time. I actually thought the content was very applicable to my field of study and will be really helpful for the real world, but it was a lot of very tedious busywork and there were many errors that caused confusion with the assignments and exams. It didn't seem like her or the TAs cared about the class which was understandable but unfortunate. Overall, it was at times interesting but I wish the format of the class was better and required less work.

Fardina Alam
DATA200

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2024

She is very nice, the class is pretty calm as well but it is a bit boring. She is also usually late to class, so after a while I just started showing up to class like 5-10 minutes late as well. Great professor that cares about your learning.

Fardina Alam
DATA200

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/11/2024

This is not a useful class. The topics discussed aren't important, and it's just tedious work. The homework and exams are not hard but very ambiguous and contain many errors that must be clarified. Fardina also doesn't seem to put much effort into this class knowing it's not that hard. She doesn't answer questions properly at times, especially through Piazza, and she doesn't tell you ahead of time whether there will be an in-class activity or not, so you'll have to go to class. This isn't a hard class but it certainly isn't a good use of your time either.

Fardina Alam
DATA200

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/26/2024

DATA200 is a joke of a class, don't really need to worry about it. The most you need to do is go through the slides (they're posted and you don't really need to too besides in-class activities and 1 debate), there are a lot but 50% you can skip, and take some notes to understand the concepts that aren't completely self-explanatory (there aren't many of those). The 2 mid-terms are easy and so is the final. Realistically you come out of this class with a B at least if you never attended a class with all the projects and free homeworks. She's a nice professor who cares, but also recognizes it's not too serious of a class, answers questions and is accommodating.

Fardina Alam
DATA200

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/19/2024

Super easy and manageable class. Fardina is a kind person and wants the best for her students, but lectures can be extremely boring sometimes. Most people end up skipping class if there isn't an in-class activity, and I honestly don't blame them. Exams are pretty easy but can be lengthy. Expect to conduct a semester-long survey data science group project, so make sure to not partner with any lazy bums b/c that can easily tank your grade. I understand the importance of this class if you are doing something like a data science major/minor, but in my personal opinion, I wouldn't recommend taking this course if you actually want to learn something interesting (besides an easy A). She is a great person though.

Fardina Alam
DATA200

Anonymous
04/24/2024

DATA200 is an interesting class, in concept, but this class isn't really managed well. Random in-class debate that wasn't listed anywhere on the syllabus (which is managed horribly), attendance is somewhat required... not a problem, if lectures were interesting. Professor will just read off the slides, occasionally text just at random in the middle of a presentation (stopping the lecture), in addition to being many minutes late setting things up. Often TAs would have to take over class without warning. Assignments, HWs and Exams are all arbitrary. Criteria doesn't feel terribly clear, exams feel more based on trying to memorize arbitrary definitions and link them up to not-well-defined concepts than actual ethical practices, when you aren't doing things a 13 year old could do.

Reviews for DATA200