Bachelor of Science, Minor in Data Science
Data Science is a multidisciplinary area that explores methods to procure, clean, maintain, process, and infer from an abundance of data. Data scientists are in great demand, among others, for their technological and subject-matter skills to work with data, communication skills to explain the outcomes of data analysis, and leadership skills to advance data-driven policies. AU offers COMP, DATA, and MATH courses on topics related to Data Science as well as a Graduate Certificate in Data Analytics (GCDA).
The Data Science Minor also has the potential to address application of Data Science in sciences, business, healthcare, education, humanities, social sciences, and interdisciplinary studies.
Specific requirements
In addition to the BSc program general requirements and the specific requirements of the chosen major, a Minor in Data Science involves the completion of 24 credits of core and elective courses.
Core courses
(18 credits)
| COMP 206 – Introduction to Computer Programming (C++) | (3) |
| or | |
| COMP 218 – Introduction to Computer Programming with Python* | |
| or | |
| COMP 268 – Introduction to Computing Programming (Java) | |
| * recommended | |
| COMP 272 – Data Structures and Algorithms** | (3) |
| DATA 300 – Introduction to Data Science (under development) | (3) |
| COMP 351 – Ethics in Computing and Information Systems (under development) | (3) |
| MATH 315 – Methods in Applied Statistics*** | (3) |
| COMP 456 – Artificial Intelligence | (3) |
| or | |
| COMP 458 – Machine Learning (under development) |
Elective courses
(6 credits)
Students complete a minimum of 6 credits selected from the Science area of study at a junior, senior, or graduate level. Students in the Bachelor of Science with a Computing and Information Systems Major, can take up to 2 Athabasca University graduate-level computing courses to fulfill senior-level COMP electives.
Notes:
*COMP 218 is highly recommended; however, students taking the Computing and Information Systems Major will choose one of the programming courses (COMP 206, COMP 218, or COMP 268) that has not previously been completed towards the major.
**Students that have already successfully completed COMP 272, need to take COMP 372.
***Students in the Applied Mathematics Major can fulfill the MATH 315 requirement with COMP 372.
Updated August 12, 2024 by Office of the Registrar (calendar@athabascau.ca)