Syllabus

Fall 2026

Course Information

• Duration: Full Semester (16 weeks)

• Format: Asynchronous online (delivered via Coursera)

• Location: Coursera platform

• Weekly Hours of Expected Student Work: 12-15 hours per week

• Credit Hours: 4 Credit Hours

Instructor Information

• Instructor: Craig Willis, Teaching Assistant Professor, School of Information Sciences

• Contact information: willis8@illinois.edu

• Office location: Via Zoom (see Coursera for schedule)

• Office hours: See Coursera for schedule; also by appointment

Teaching Assistants

TA office hours will be announced via Campuswire and available under Coursera Live Events:

• Sakshi Bhalla

• Jie Yong Kim

• Gyuseok Lee

• Deepanshu Malhotra

• Joe Menke

• Yiwen Tu

• Yulun Wu

Course Description

Data curation, the management of data in support of analysis and use, is a critical activity across industry, science, and public policy. Data curation is the set of practices that make data discoverable, accessible, intelligible, accountable, and reusable over time, spanning the complete lifecycle from acquisition through downstream use, reuse, and disposal. This course takes a broad view of curation as a practice that supports reliability, transparency, reproducibility, and ethical use, providing a survey of the technical infrastructure and organizational judgment curation requires at scale.

This course is not primarily concerned with learning engineering or analytic techniques and instead focuses on the many other aspects of curation in the data lifecycle, training data engineers, data stewards, and technically oriented data managers to bring curatorial judgment to engineering and systems design that complements the technical skills built in other courses.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Steward data and associated artifacts responsibly across their full lifecycle, from creation through reuse or disposal, within relevant legal, ethical, and organizational constraints.

• Evaluate data and associated artifacts for fitness for independent reuse and verifiability, assessing quality, completeness, and provenance at both the data and metadata levels.

• Make informed decisions in data curation contexts, navigating conflicting obligations and stakeholder needs under real-world constraints.

• Broker effectively across stakeholder groups, translating between data producers, technical staff, and institutional stakeholders while recognizing the limits of one’s own expertise.

• Design and manage the technical infrastructure, such as metadata catalogs, pipelines, and automated workflows, that enables data curation at scale.

• Engineer reproducibility and provenance into analytical systems using version control, containerization, and pipeline lineage methods.

• Operate responsibly within large-scale analytical and ML/AI pipelines, applying curatorial principles to training data documentation.

Prerequisites

• Completion of an introductory databases course or related experience including database design, schemas, constraints, and queries.

• Ability to create and manipulate commonly used data formats including JSON and XML.

• Basic Python programming skills including familiarity with Pandas, use of Python libraries, and web-based APIs.

Course Materials

Learning Management System (LMS)

This course uses several platforms:

• Coursera: Lecture videos and course content

• PrairieLearn: Module quizzes, assignment submission and grading

• ProctorU/PrairieTest: Exams and exam proctoring

• Campuswire: Course Q&A, discussion, and communication with course staff

• Enterprise: Official final course grade of record

Course Readings

There is no required textbook for this course. Weekly readings supplement lecture videos and reading guides can be found in each module. Concepts from required readings may be included in module quizzes; only concepts covered in the lectures and quizzes are candidates for the final exam. Supplemental readings are optional and provided for students who want to explore a particular area in more depth.

Materials

No physical materials are required beyond a computer with internet access to complete coursework through Coursera.

Equipment

A webcam and microphone are not required for regular coursework, but may be required for proctored exams.

ProctorU requires a working webcam, microphone, and speakers, along with a stable internet connection, a single connected monitor, and installation of the ProctorU Guardian Browser. See ProctorU’s Equipment Requirements for full system requirements. Additional exam-specific guidance will be provided separately.

Software

This course primarily uses Coursera, PrairieLearn, Campuswire, and Databricks, all of which require only a web browser. Students completing the containerization lab will need Docker, and the sensitive data assignment requires ARX. Both are free to download and install.

Course Requirements and Policies

Grading Breakdown

Instructional Activity	Occurrences	Point Value	Total Points (% of grade)
Quizzes (lowest dropped)	15	1% each	15%
Assignments	5	10% each	50%
Midterm Exam	1	15%	15%
Final Exam	1	20%	20%
Extra Credit	≥2 opportunities	N/A	~2%
Total			100% (may exceed 100% with extra credit)

Assignments are delivered via the PrairieLearn system.

Grading Criteria

• A+ criteria: A+ is reserved for students who not only earn top scores but also demonstrate exceptional mastery or engagement beyond standard coursework. Examples include consistently strong performance on assessments and meaningful contributions to discussions on Campuswire or during office hours.

• Rounding policy: Grades will be rounded to the nearest whole percent with .5 rounded up. 93.5 will be counted as 94 (A).

Course Components

The course is comprised of the following elements:

Lecture Videos

For each module, the concepts you need to know will be presented through a collection of short video lectures. The videos usually total 1.5 to 2 hours for each module. You generally should spend at least the same amount of time digesting content in the video.

Readings

Readings are included in each module to supplement and reinforce lecture materials. Concepts from required readings are included in module quizzes. Supplemental readings are optional and provided for students who want to explore a particular area in more depth.

Quizzes

Each module concludes with a graded quiz to help ensure you understood that module’s content.

Assignments

There are five assignments for you to complete in this course. Assignments are delivered via the PrairieLearn system.

Exams

Midterm and final exams.

Labs and Activities

Modules include one or more ungraded labs or activities. These are designed to be formative as well as to provide scaffolding for assignments.

Reflections

Modules include ungraded reflection activities to give students the opportunity to connect course concepts to their own interests or experience.

Participation

Student participation will be based on engagement via Campuswire and office hours.

Extra Credit

At least two extra credit opportunities will be available worth approximately 2% of the final grade. This should be sufficient to help students on grade boundaries.

Late Assignment Policy

• Unless otherwise specified, all assignments are due at 11:59 PM US Central Time on the due date. We encourage everyone to finish the assignments before the deadline.

• All auto-graded assessments will receive an automatic 5% penalty per day late, for up to 10 days after the due date. After 10 days no points will be awarded.

• Students may avoid the late penalty entirely by requesting approval from course staff via Campuswire in advance of the due date. Assignments submitted under an approved extension are not subject to the late penalty.

• No assignments will be accepted after the last day of class.

• For all assignment deadlines, please refer to the Course Assignment Deadlines, Late Policy, and Academic Calendar page in Coursera.

• For course extensions or incompletes, please email mcs-support@illinois.edu.

The late penalty above applies to quizzes and assignments only. Exams are administered during a fixed one-week window and are not eligible for late submission or the late penalty described above. Students who are unable to complete an exam during the scheduled window due to a documented emergency should contact course staff as soon as possible.

Class Attendance

This is an asynchronous online course with no required live sessions. Regular engagement with course content (videos, quizzes, assignments) by posted deadlines meet the attendance expectations for this course.

Absence Policy

If you encounter special circumstances that prevent you from completing assignments on time, please reach out to course staff via Campuswire. Note that you may be required to submit an Absence Letter.

Participation

Student participation will be based on engagement via Campuswire and office hours.

Campuswire Policy: Do not post complete solutions publicly. While the intent is to get help, posting solutions may encourage cheating. Submit to Instructors and TAs for detailed feedback on your solution to a problem. Course staff will provide private feedback. If content posted to Campuswire is too detailed, course staff reserve the right to remove content or change the post to private at any time.

Use of Generative AI

The use of generative AI tools in this course is permitted under the following conditions.

Permitted uses:

• Conducting basic research on course topics and assignments

• Creating study aids for quizzes and exams

Prohibited uses:

• Using AI tools to bypass the learning process

• Directly answering or solving graded assignments, quizzes, exams, or any other form of assessment

• Submitting AI-generated responses as your own work

Any misuse of generative AI tools will be treated as a violation of academic integrity.

Final Letter Grades

Your official final course grade will be listed in Enterprise. The course grade you see displayed in Coursera may not match your official final course grade.

If you have questions about your final letter grade, reach out to course staff.

Grading Scale

Square brackets and parentheses indicate inclusive and exclusive endpoints. Maximum grade may exceed 100% given extra credit.

Percentage	Letter Grade
Instructor discretion (see Grading Criteria)	A+
[94-100]	A
[90-93)	A-
[87-89)	B+
[83-86)	B
[80-82)	B-
[77-79)	C+
[73-76)	C
[70-72)	C-
[67-70)	D+
[63-66)	D
[60-62)	D-
59 and below	F

Campus Academic Policies & Statements

Student Code

A student at the University of Illinois at the Urbana‑Champaign campus is a member of a University community of which all members have at least the rights and responsibilities common to all citizens, free from institutional censorship; affiliation with the University as a student does not diminish the rights or responsibilities held by a student or any other community member as a citizen of larger communities of the state, the nation, and the world. See the University of Illinois Student Code for more information.

Academic Integrity

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Student Code should also be considered as a part of this syllabus. Students should pay particular attention to Article 1, Part 4: Academic Integrity.

Academic dishonesty may result in a failing grade. Every student is expected to review and abide by the Academic Integrity Policy. Ignorance is not an excuse for any academic dishonesty. It is your responsibility to read this policy to avoid any misunderstanding. Do not hesitate to ask the instructor(s) if you are ever in doubt about what constitutes plagiarism, cheating, or any other breach of academic integrity.

All students are expected to abide by campus regulations on academic integrity found in the Student Code of Conduct. These standards will be enforced and infractions of these rules will not be tolerated in this course. Sharing, copying, or providing any part of a homework solution or code is an infraction of the University’s rules on academic integrity. We will be actively looking for violations of this policy in homework and project submissions. Any violation will be punished as severely as possible with sanctions and penalties typically ranging from a failing grade on this assignment up to a failing grade in the course, including a letter of the offending infraction kept in the student’s permanent university record. Again, a good rule of thumb: keep every typed word and piece of code your own. If you think you are operating in a gray area, you probably are. If you would like clarification on specifics, please contact the course staff.

Students with Disabilities

The University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, is committed to ensuring that all students, including students with disabilities, do not experience barriers to learning and participating fully in class. Students who have a letter of accommodation from Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) are advised to share that with instructors as soon as possible to ensure accommodation needs can be discussed and met.

To obtain disability-related academic accommodations, disabled students are encouraged to contact DRES as soon as possible. To contact DRES, please visit 1207 S. Oak Street, Champaign, call (217) 333-1970, email disability@illinois.edu, or visit the DRES website.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

See FERPA - Office of the Registrar for more information on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Mental Health

Significant stress, mood changes, excessive worry, substance/alcohol misuse or interferences in eating or sleep can have an impact on academic performance, social development, and emotional wellbeing. The University of Illinois offers a variety of confidential services including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, psychiatric services, and specialized screenings which are covered through the Health Service Fee. If you or someone you know experiences any of the above mental health concerns, it is strongly encouraged to contact or visit any of the University’s resources provided below. Getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do for yourself and for those who care about you.

• Counseling Center (217) 333-3704

• McKinley Health Center (217) 333-2700

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800) 273-8255

• Rosecrance Crisis Line (815) 720-4953 (available 24/7, 365 days a year)

If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

This statement is approved by the University of Illinois Counseling Center.

Community of Care

As members of the Illinois community, we each have a responsibility to express care and concern for one another. If you come across a classmate whose behavior concerns you, whether regarding their well-being or yours, we encourage you to refer this behavior to the Connie Frank CARE Center (formerly the Student Assistance Center) in the Office of the Dean of Students. You may do so by calling (217) 333-0050 or by submitting a CARE online referral. Based on your report, staff in the Connie Frank CARE Center will reach out to offer support and assistance.

Further, as a Community of Care, we want to support you in your overall wellness. We know that students sometimes face challenges that can impact academic performance (examples include mental health concerns, food insecurity, homelessness, personal emergencies). Should you find that you are managing such a challenge and that it is interfering with your coursework, you are encouraged to contact the Connie Frank CARE Center (formerly the Student Assistance Center) in the Office of the Dean of Students for support and referrals to campus and/or community resources.

Ombuds Assistance & Resources for Students (OARS)

OARS is housed in the Office of the Dean of Students and serves as a confidential, impartial, informal, and independent resource for students seeking guidance, clarity, and resolution when facing challenges or conflicts with university faculty, staff, policies, procedures, or practices. The office exists to provide a space where students can feel heard, discuss their concerns, explore potential options and pathways for resolving disputes and, when appropriate, be referred to other campus resources. The Student Ombudsperson listens without judgment, helps clarify issues, identifies possible pathways forward, and supports students in making their own decisions. For more information, please visit the Ombuds Assistance & Resources for Students (OARS).

Disruptive Behavior

Behavior that persistently or grossly interferes with classroom activities is considered disruptive behavior and may be subject to disciplinary action. Such behavior inhibits other students’ ability to learn and an instructor’s ability to teach. A student responsible for disruptive behavior may be required to leave class pending discussion and resolution of the problem and may be reported using the Public Incident Report Form, email (conflictresolution@illinois.edu), or phone (217) 333-3680 to the Office for Student Conflict Resolution for disciplinary action.

Religious Observances

It is the policy of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to reasonably accommodate its students’ religious beliefs, observances, and practices that conflict with a student’s class attendance or participation in a scheduled examination or work requirement, consistent with state and federal law. Students must make requests for accommodation in advance of the conflict to allow time for both consideration of the request and alternate procedures to be prepared. Requests should be directed to the instructor. An optional resource to assist students in making such requests can be found on the Religious Observances website of the Office of the Dean of Students.

Sexual Misconduct Reporting Obligation

The University of Illinois is committed to combating sexual misconduct. Faculty and staff members are required to report any instances of sexual misconduct to the University’s Title IX Office. In turn, an individual with the Title IX Office will provide information about rights and options, including supportive measures, resources, the campus disciplinary process, and law enforcement options.

A list of the designated University employees who, as counselors, confidential advisors, and medical professionals, do not have this reporting responsibility and can maintain confidentiality, can be found on We Care Student Resources and on the Illinois app. Other information about resources and reporting is available on [At Illinois We Care]https://wecare.illinois.edu/) and on the Illinois app.

Veterans and Military Students

As a military-friendly institution, and per federal regulations and Illinois statutes, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has established policies and procedures to accommodate military-connected students. In addition to the support available at the Chez Veterans Center, members of the National Guard or Reserves and active-duty military personnel with military obligations (e.g., deployments, training, drills) are encouraged to communicate these, in advance whenever possible, to the instructor. For policy details, see the Student Code on Excused Absences and Departure from the University for U.S. Military or other U.S. National Defense Services.

Course Schedule/Outline

Week	Topics	Instructional Activities
Week 1	Module 1 - Introduction to Data Curation	Lecture videos, readings, orientation quiz (syllabus), module quiz
Week 2	Module 2 - Organizational and Data Lifecycles	Lecture videos, readings, quiz
Week 3	Module 3 - Ethical, Legal, and Policy Foundations	Lecture videos, readings, quiz
Week 4	Module 4 - Technical Infrastructure Foundations	Lecture videos, readings, quiz
Week 5	Module 5 - Data Collection and Acquisition	Lecture videos, readings, quiz A1 due (covers Modules 1-4)
Week 6	Module 6 - Data Storage and Organization	Lecture videos, readings, quiz
Week 7	Module 7 - Metadata and Data Documentation	Lecture videos, readings, quiz; A2 due (covers Modules 5-6)
Week 8	Module 8 - Data Quality	Lecture videos, readings, quiz
Week 9	Module 9 - Workflows and Workflow Automation	Lecture videos, readings, quiz
Week 10	Module 10 - Provenance and Data Lineage	Lecture videos, readings, quiz; Proctored midterm exam (covers Modules 1-8, A1-2)
Week 11	Module 11 - Reproducibility and Transparency	Lecture videos, readings; quiz; A3 due (covers Modules 7-8)
Week 12	Module 12 - Sensitive Data Handling	Lecture videos, readings, quiz
Week 13	Module 13 - Preservation, Appraisal, and Disposal	Lecture videos, readings; quiz; A4 due (covers Modules 9-10)
Week 14	Fall Break	No instruction
Week 15	Module 14 - Prioritization, Triage, and Communication	Lecture videos, readings, quiz; A5 due (covers Module 12)
Week 16	Module 15 - Integration and Wrap-Up	Course wrap-up; Proctored final exam (covers Modules 9-15, A3-5)

Acknowledgements

This course includes material adapted from work by Carole Palmer, Melissa Cragin, David Dubin, Karen Wickett, Bertram Ludaescher, Ruth Duerr, Cherl Thompson, and Simone Sacchi.