Data Mining
CSIS-4330

Many businesses are discovering that stored within their corporate data repositories are the elements to understanding and controlling the components of their business processes. Data mining is the process of finding useful patterns in data. The objective of data mining is to use discovered patterns to help explain current behavior or to predict future outcomes. This course will provide a foundation to understand data mining methods and data visualization techniques by examining how these technologies provide useful knowledge that supports critical business decisions. This course will introduce data mining techniques and have the student experiment with data mining applications. Additionally, the course will explain how data visualization can allow managers to quickly access large data repositories and make clear decisions based on integrated information structures.

After successfully completing Data Mining students should be able to:

• Describe the sequence of events associated with a typical data mining project.
• Explain the various techniques use for data preprocessing and cleansing.
• Describe various data classification methods in common use.
• Describe various data clustering methods in common use.
• Describe various methods to create association rules in common use.
• Assess current data mining technologies, including statistical analysis, neural networks, genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic, and decision trees.
• Recommend which intelligent system is best suited for different kinds of problems.
• Summarize the trends in data mining, and visualization.
• Identify the issues of privacy that must be addressed if data mining (DM) is to become a pervasive and effective source of knowledge.

Academic policies provide students with important rights and responsibilities.  Students are expected to familiarize themselves with all academic policies that apply to them.  Academic policies for undergraduate students can be found in the Undergraduate Studies Catalog; graduate students should review the Graduate Studies Catalog.

Undergraduate Studies Catalog

The Undergraduate Studies Catalog contains academic policies that apply to all undergraduate students. The academic policies and information section of the catalog contains important information related to attendance, conduct, academic honesty, grades, and more. If you are an undergraduate student, please review the catalog each academic year. The current Undergraduate Studies Catalog is at:

http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/undergraduate-catalog/

Graduate Studies Catalog

The Graduate Studies Catalog contains academic policies that apply to all graduate students. The academic policies section of the catalog contains important information related to conduct, academic honesty, grades, and more. If you are a graduate student, please review the catalog each academic year. The current Graduate Studies Catalog is at:

http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/graduate-catalog/

The Grades section of the academic catalog outlines the various grading systems courses may use, including the information about the final grade reported for this class.

Undergraduate
http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/undergraduate-catalog/academic-policies.html#grading

Graduate
http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/graduate-catalog/academic-policies.html#grades

Incomplete

There are important policies that govern grades of Incomplete (I), including the circumstances under which Incomplete grades are granted, deadlines for completion, and consequences should the remaining course work not be completed.  It is the responsibility of a student who requests an Incomplete to ensure that he/she understands and follows the policies.

Grade Appeals

Instructors are responsible for assigning grades, and student should discuss grade issues with the instructor. Policies and procedures for appealing grades are available in the appropriate catalog.

Webster University is committed to academic excellence. As part of our Statement of Ethics, we strive to preserve academic honor and integrity by repudiating all forms of academic and intellectual dishonesty, including cheating, plagiarism and all other forms of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is unacceptable and is subject to a disciplinary response. Students are encouraged to talk to instructors about any questions they may have regarding how to properly credit others’ work, including paraphrasing, quoting, and citation formatting. The university reserves the right to utilize electronic databases, such as Turnitin.com, to assist faculty and students with their academic work.

The University’s Academic Honesty Policy is published in academic catalogs:

Undergraduate
http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/undergraduate-catalog/academic-policies.html

Graduate
http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/graduate-catalog/academic-policies.html

As a part of the University commitment to academic excellence, the Academic Resource Center provides student resources to become better acquainted with academic honesty and the tools to prevent plagiarism in its many forms:

http://www.webster.edu/arc/plagiarism_prevention/

Webster University strives to be a center of academic excellence. The University makes every effort to ensure the following:

• The opportunity for students to learn and inquire freely
• The protection of intellectual freedom and the rights of professors to teach
• The advancement of knowledge through scholarly pursuits and relevant dialogue

To review Webster University's statement of ethics, see the Undergraduate Studies Catalog and the Graduate and Studies Catalog:

Undergraduate
http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/undergraduate-catalog/overview.html#ethics

Graduate
http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/graduate-catalog/ethics.html

It is essential that all classes meet for the full instructional time as scheduled. A class cannot be shortened in length. If a class session is cancelled for any reason, the content must be covered at another time.

Academic Accommodations

Webster University makes every effort to accommodate individuals with academic/learning, health, physical and psychological disabilities. To obtain accommodations, students must identify themselves and provide documentation from a qualified professional or agency to the appropriate campus designee or the Academic ADA Coordinator at the main campus. The Academic ADA Coordinator may be reached at 314-246-7700 or [email protected].

If you have already identified as a student with a documented disability and are entitled to classroom or testing accommodations, please inform the instructor of the accommodations you will require for this class at the beginning of the course.

Academic Resource Center 

Additional support and resources may be accessed through the Academic Resource Center (ARC). Support and resources include academic counseling, accommodations, assistive technology, peer tutoring, plagiarism prevention, testing center services, and writing coaching. Visit www.webster.edu/arc or Loretto Hall 40 on the main campus for more information.

Student Success Portal

Webster University’s Student Success Portal, powered by Starfish, is a communications tool to connect students with faculty members and campus support services. It allows faculty and staff members to communicate with you regarding academic achievements as well as areas where support may be helpful.  You may use the portal to contact faculty and staff members for assistance and to arrange meetings.  Activity in the portal will be communicated to your Webster University email account.  The Student Success Portal is available via your course home page in WorldClassRoom or via Connections.  Learn more about the Student Success Portal at http://www.webster.edu/success/students.html.

University Library

Webster University Library is dedicated to supporting the research needs and intellectual pursuits of students throughout the University’s worldwide network. Resources include print and electronic books, journal articles, online databases, DVDs and streaming video, CDs and streaming music, datasets, and other specialized information. Services include providing materials at no cost and research help for basic questions to in-depth exploration of resources. The gateway to all of these resources and services is http://library.webster.edu. For support navigating the library’s resources, see http://libanswers.webster.edu/ for the many ways to contact library staff. 

Drop and withdrawal policies dictate processes for students who wish to unenroll from a course.  Students must take proactive steps to unenroll; informing the instructor is not sufficient, nor is failing to attend.  In the early days of the term or semester, students may DROP a course with no notation on their student record.  After the DROP deadline, students may WITHDRAW from a course; in the case of a WITHDRAW, a grade of W appears on the student record.  After the WITHDRAW deadline, students may not unenroll from a course.  Policies and a calendar of deadlines for DROP and WITHDRAW are at:

Undergraduate
http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/undergraduate-catalog/enrollment.html

Graduate
http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/graduate-catalog/enrollment.html

Academic Calendar - http://www.webster.edu/academics/academic-calendar/

Current tuition rates, policies, and procedures, including details of pro-rated tuition refunds, are available in the “Tuition, Fees, and Refunds” section of Webster’s Academic Catalogs:

Undergraduate
http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/undergraduate-catalog/tuition.html

Graduate
http://www.webster.edu/catalog/current/graduate-catalog/tuition.html

Student handbook and other non-academic policies may apply to you and may impact your experience in this class.  Such policies include the student code of conduct, privacy, technology and communications, and more. Please review the handbook each year and be aware of policies that apply to you.  The handbook is available at: 

http://www.webster.edu/student-handbook/

Sexual Assault, Harassment, and Other Sexual Offenses

Webster University makes every effort to educate the community to prevent sexual assault, harassment, and other sexual offenses from occurring, and is committed to providing support to those affected when this behavior does occur. To access information and resources or to review the Policy on Sexual Assault, Harassment, and Other Sexual Offenses, visit:

http://www.webster.edu/sexual-misconduct/

The Webster University Institutional Review Committee (IRB) is responsible for the review of all research on human subjects.  The IRB process applies to all Webster University faculty, staff, and students and must be completed prior to any contact with human subjects.  For more information on the IRB, visit:

http://www.webster.edu/irb/index.html

At the end of this course, you will have the opportunity to provide feedback about your experience. Your input is extremely valuable to the university, your instructor, and the department that offers this course. Please provide your honest and thoughtful evaluation, as it helps the university to provide the best experience possible for all of its students.

Connections Accounts

Webster University provides all students, faculty, and staff with a University email account through Connections. Students are expected to activate their Connections account and regularly check incoming University email. Students may choose to have their University email forwarded to an alternate email address. Connections account holders can call the Help Desk (314-246-5995 or toll free at 1-866-435-7270) for assistance with this setup. Instructions are also provided on the Information Technology website at:

http://www.webster.edu/technology/service-desk/

WorldClassRoom

WorldClassRoom is Webster’s Learning Content Management System (LMS). Your instructor may use WorldClassRoom to deliver important information, to hold class activities, to communicate grades and feedback, and more. WorldClassRoom is available using your Connections ID at:

https://worldclassroom.webster.edu/

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http://www.webster.edu/technology/services/webster-alerts/

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