The ability to program has been highlighted as a key skill in the 21st century. Computing has increased the data handling capability in several fields; social sciences are no exception in this trend. To help with the development of these skills, HIIT and Department of Computer Science co-organized a course "Introduction to Programming for Social Sciences". Matti Nelimarkka from HIIT explains the content and thinking behind the course:
We are currently trying to get a good grasp on computation as a problem-solving tool and understanding basic algorithms. In the following weeks, we will extend these skills to cover topics related to data collection and basic level of data analysis. I hope that with these skills, students can do more interesting research, such as scrape content from the Web or use open data creatively as data source.
There seems to be a need for this kind of adapted programming courses: almost 100 students indicated interest in programming. A selected group of 14 students were chosen for this falls course to iron any problems out and make the course ready for masses.
Check the course syllabus online (in Finnish only).
Last updated on 12 Sep 2014 by Matti Nelimarkka - Page created on 11 Sep 2014 by Matti Nelimarkka