Tuesday 28 October 2014

Class 2 is now available

The six lessons for Class 2 are now available on the course website:

https://weka.waikato.ac.nz/moredataminingwithweka

The mid-course assessment, following Class 2, is also available. Following that, there are 3 weeks to go (classes 3, 4 and 5).

The activities are a crucial part of the course: they're where most people will do their actual learning! However, they do not form part of the assessment, so don't be scared to get wrong answers. Also, some of the activities are pretty difficult and time-consuming. You don't necessarily need to actually complete them if you find that difficult on your computer, but you do need to understand what it is that you are supposed to do -- and why.

"More Data Mining with Weka" has been designed so that participants at many different levels can learn as much as possible – and complete the course successfully. You don't have to do the reading. All you must do to succeed are the mid-course and final assessments -- which you can try as often as you like. 

The mid-course assessment will remain open for the rest of the course; the final assessment will appear during week 5.

The videos and other course components for Classes 1 and 2 can be downloaded from the "Materials" site, in case you find that more convenient than viewing them online:

http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/ml/weka/mooc/moredataminingwithweka/
  
cheers, and keep going!

 
Ian

Monday 20 October 2014

Welcome to "More Data Mining with Weka".


Welcome to the course "More Data Mining with Weka". The six lessons for Class 1 are now available on the course website:
   
 
We will release classes 2, 3, 4, and 5 at approximately the same time (Monday noon NZ time) in the upcoming weeks, and send reminder announcements.
  
The course includes the following resources:
  • the Weka software
  • videos, one per lesson, on YouTube
  •  the videos include captions (English and Chinese), which can be turned on in YouTube
  •  we recommend viewing in HD format, again a YouTube control
  •  slides used in the videos (PDF format)
  •  text files containing transcripts of the videos
  •  activities that follow each lesson
  •  access to selected excerpts from Data Mining (3rd Edition) - plus you can buy a discounted copy from the publisher
  • mid-course assessment (opens 27 Oct, after the Week 2 content) 
  •  final assessment (opens 17 Nov, after Week 5 content)
  •  announcement forum, blog, twitter feed (available from the course website)
  •  discussion forum.
  
 for Chinese participants:
Some notes for participants:
  • work through the videos and activities at your own pace, in your own time
  • a new class appears every week; old classes will remain available until the course closes
  • in theory, you could leave all your learning to the last week (we don't recommend this!)
  • please subscribe to the announcement forum if you haven't already done so: this is the best way to stay up-to-date with the course (click on Membership and email settings to subscribe)
  • only the mid-course and final assessments count towards the Statement of Completion
  • please check your name and marks in the My Profile section of the website (this is the data we will use to produce your Statement of Completion)
  • during the videos, it may help to follow with Weka on your own computer ("click along with Ian")
  • the course should take 3–5 hours/week (4–6 hours if you do the optional reading)
  • a detailed syllabus is available:
     https://weka.waikato.ac.nz/moredataminingwithweka/assets/pdf/syllabus.pdf
 
A reminder that you can review material from the Data Mining with Weka course at:
 
 
You will be using Weka 3.6.11 throughout this course, so please download it and install it on your computer. This is a new version and it is *not* the same as the version used for the previous course. It’s available at both:

 
and 
 
Please help us by filling out the pre-course survey if you have not already done so.

 
By the time you have finished this course you will be an expert user of Weka and very knowledgeable about data mining generally. But it will take some effort, and motivation.
 
cheers, and good luck
Ian
 
 

Saturday 11 October 2014

Enrolments open for "More Data Mining with Weka"

A new session of More Data Mining with Weka is open for enrolment and will start on 20 October 2014.

You do not have to have actually obtained a Statement of Completion for the introductory Data Mining with Weka MOOC to embark on More Data Mining with Weka, but you will certainly need equivalent knowledge.

In this second MOOC — even more than the first — you will do most of your learning in the Activities, and you should allow extra time for them because they’re a bit more challenging than before. Otherwise the format, and time commitment, is the same as the earlier course. Again, you do not have to complete the Activities to get a Statement of Completion: that’s based solely on your performance in the mid-class and end-of-class assessments.

There’s more information about the course in the trailer video: it’s informative, entertaining, and only about 3 minutes long.



 
A detailed syllabus is available.

By the time you have finished this course you will be an expert on the use of Weka. Enrol at:

https://weka.waikato.ac.nz/moredataminingwithweka
 
cheers
Ian