Join the Adventure – Intro Data Science Course Series Offered Winter-Spring 2026
It’s time to register for Adventures in Data Science 2026! This two-quarter series taught by DataLab directors Drs. Carl Stahmer and Pamela Reynolds – with engagement from the entire DataLab team – offers a hands-on introduction to data science for both majors and non-majors. The series is listed in course builder as STS 115: Data Sense & Exploration: Critical Storytelling with Analysis (winter) and STS 195: Research in Data Studies (spring). This program is designed to give students from all majors – including those that are outside of the data sciences – the knowledge and skills to succeed in today’s interdisciplinary, data-driven workforce. Space is limited so we encourage interested students to register as soon as possible.
The first course in the series (STS 115) focuses on acquiring the skills necessary for performing data-driven, interdisciplinary research, and is followed by a quarter-long immersion in applied data science for research (STS 195). Combined, this challenging two-quarter series introduces students to the basics of computer programming and data analysis using the R programming language and provides hands-on exposure to the core skills needed to problem solve in team-research settings with complex datasets.
This series is open to students from any major and has no prerequisites — we welcome students with no prior computing background. Students from the social sciences, humanities, and arts as well as students in the life and physical sciences with no to little prior programming experience are particularly encouraged to register for this course. This series fulfills electives for the data science major. While this is an undergraduate series, graduate students are also eligible to register and are encouraged to contact the course instructors for more. information.
Course Descriptions
WINTER 2026 – STS 115: “Adventures in Data Science (Part 1)”
Data Sense & Exploration – Critical Storytelling with Analysis
Data science and the communication of data insights through critical analysis and storytelling. Introduction to network architecture, file system and command line basics, version control, data structures and types, webscraping, text mining, and basic programming skills in the R computing environment for data exploration, cleaning, analysis, and visualization. Attention to the historical and social contexts of data analysis emphasizing narrative. Prerequisite(s): None. Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hours, Discussion/Laboratory 1 hour. Grade Mode: Letter. 4 units. GE Oral Literacy.
STS 115 is the first course in DataLab’s challenging “Adventures in Data Science” two-quarter series. Offered in Winter 2026, this course combines classroom-based instruction with applied case studies to enable students to acquire the core skills and knowledge necessary to conduct data-driven inquiry. No previous experience with computer science, data science, or statistics is required. It is an expectation that students who successfully complete this first quarter of the series with a final grade of B or better will move on to the second course of the series offered in Spring 2026 (STS 195),
Course Schedule for STS 115 Winter 2026
Lecture + Lab: FRIDAYS 9 AM -11:50 AM (Shields Library, Room 167)
Required discussion section: Wednesdays 3:10-4 PM (Shields Library, Room 167)
SPRING 2026 – STS 195: “Adventures in Data Science (Part 2)”
Research in Data Studies
Analysis of real-world data in the form of on-going active research projects. Emphasizes teamwork in the identification of problems, methods, and implementation as students are embedded into research teams with classmates, data scientists, and external research collaborators from across the University. Projects entail data gathering, cleaning, exploration, analysis, and visualization using R; and interpretation and presentation of results in oral, visual, and textual formats to a variety of researchers and community members. Prerequisite(s): STS 115 and consent of instructor. Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hours, Discussion/Laboratory 1 hour(s). Grade Mode: Letter (or P/NP). 4 units. GE Social Sciences.
Students who successfully complete this first quarter of the series (STS 115) with a final grade of B or better are eligible to move on to the second course of the series offered in Spring 2026 (STS 195), which is a practicum-based learning opportunity where students are embedded into one of several interdisciplinary research teams to solve active research problems from across UC Davis and work closely with faculty Principal Investigators (“clients”), Graduate Student mentors, and Research Data Scientists. Combined, this two-quarter honors/elective series (STS 115 and STS 195) introduces students to the basics of computer programming and data analysis, and provides hands-on exposure to the core skills needed to work in interdisciplinary, team research settings.
Course Schedule for STS 195 Spring 2026 TBA.