Data science courses contain math—no avoiding that! This course is designed to teach learners the basic math you will need in order to be successful in almost any data science math course and was created for learners who have basic math skills but may not have taken algebra or pre-calculus. Data Science Math Skills introduces the core math that data science is built upon, with no extra complexity, introducing unfamiliar ideas and math symbols one-at-a-time.
Learners who complete this course will master the vocabulary, notation, concepts, and algebra rules that all data scientists must know before moving on to more advanced material.
Topics include:
~Set theory, including Venn diagrams
~Properties of the real number line
~Interval notation and algebra with inequalities
~Uses for summation and Sigma notation
~Math on the Cartesian (x,y) plane, slope and distance formulas
~Graphing and describing functions and their inverses on the x-y plane,
~The concept of instantaneous rate of change and tangent lines to a curve
~Exponents, logarithms, and the natural log function.
~Probability theory, including Bayes’ theorem.
While this course is intended as a general introduction to the math skills needed for data science, it can be considered a prerequisite for learners interested in the course, "Mastering Data Analysis in Excel," which is part of the Excel to MySQL Data Science Specialization. Learners who master Data Science Math Skills will be fully prepared for success with the more advanced math concepts introduced in "Mastering Data Analysis in Excel."
Good luck and we hope you enjoy the course!
This module contains four lessons that provide details on the course structure and build basic math vocabulary. The first lesson, "Introduction to Data Science Math Skills," includes an overview of the course structure, working process, and information about course certificates, quizzes, video lectures, and other important course details. The second lesson, "Sets and What They’re Good For," walks you through the basic notions of set theory, including unions, intersections, and cardinality. It also gives a real-world application to medical testing. The third lesson, "The Infinite World of Real Numbers," explains notation we use to discuss intervals on the real number line. The module concludes with the fourth lesson, "That Jagged S Symbol," where you will learn how to compactly express a long series of additions and use this skill to define statistical quantities like mean and variance.
What's included
11 videos7 readings4 assignments
Show info about module content
11 videos•Total 95 minutes
Welcome to Data Science Math Skills•3 minutes
Sets - Basics and Vocabulary•10 minutes
Sets - Medical Testing Example•11 minutes
Sets - Venn Diagrams•8 minutes
Numbers - The Real Number Line•10 minutes
Numbers - Less-than and Greater-than•7 minutes
Numbers - Algebra With Inequalities•10 minutes
Numbers - Intervals and Interval Notation•8 minutes
Sigma Notation - Introduction to Summation•9 minutes
Sigma Notation - Simplification Rules•7 minutes
Sigma Notation - Mean and Variance•13 minutes
7 readings•Total 53 minutes
Course Information•5 minutes
Weekly feedback surveys•10 minutes
Report a Problem with the Course•5 minutes
A note about the video lectures in this lesson•3 minutes
A note about the video lectures in this lesson•10 minutes
A note about the video lectures in this lesson•10 minutes
Feedback•10 minutes
4 assignments•Total 95 minutes
Graded quiz on Sets, Number Line, Inequalities, Simplification, and Sigma Notation•35 minutes
Practice quiz on Sets•15 minutes
Practice quiz on the Number Line, including Inequalities•25 minutes
Practice quiz on Simplification Rules and Sigma Notation•20 minutes
Functions and Graphs
Module 2•3 hours to complete
Module details
This module builds vocabulary for graphing functions in the plane. In the first lesson, "Descartes Was Really Smart," you will get to know the Cartesian Plane, measure distance in it, and find the equations of lines. The second lesson introduces the idea of a function as an input-output machine, shows you how to graph functions in the Cartesian Plane, and goes over important vocabulary.
What's included
8 videos3 readings3 assignments
Show info about module content
8 videos•Total 72 minutes
Cartesian Plane - Plotting Points•7 minutes
Cartesian Plane - Distance Formula•10 minutes
Cartesian Plane - Point-Slope Formula for Lines•8 minutes
Cartesian Plane: Slope-Intercept Formula for Lines•7 minutes
Functions - Mapping from Sets to Sets•7 minutes
Functions - Graphing in the Cartesian Plane•12 minutes
Functions - Increasing and Decreasing Functions•10 minutes
Functions - Composition and Inverse•11 minutes
3 readings•Total 16 minutes
A note about the video lectures in this lesson•3 minutes
A note about the video lectures in this lesson•3 minutes
Feedback•10 minutes
3 assignments•Total 75 minutes
Graded quiz on Cartesian Plane and Types of Function•40 minutes
Practice quiz on the Cartesian Plane•15 minutes
Practice quiz on Types of Functions•20 minutes
Measuring Rates of Change
Module 3•3 hours to complete
Module details
This module begins a very gentle introduction to the calculus concept of the derivative. The first lesson, "This is About the Derivative Stuff," will give basic definitions, work a few examples, and show you how to apply these concepts to the real-world problem of optimization. We then turn to exponents and logarithms, and explain the rules and notation for these math tools. Finally we learn about the rate of change of continuous growth, and the special constant known as “e” that captures this concept in a single number—near 2.718.
What's included
7 videos3 readings3 assignments
Show info about module content
7 videos•Total 66 minutes
Tangent Lines - Slope of a Graph at a Point•10 minutes
Tangent Lines - The Derivative Function•9 minutes
Using Integer Exponents•8 minutes
Simplification Rules for Algebra using Exponents•11 minutes
How Logarithms and Exponents are Related•13 minutes
The Change of Base Formula•4 minutes
The Rate of Growth of Continuous Processes•11 minutes
3 readings•Total 23 minutes
A note about the video lectures in this lesson•10 minutes
A note about the video lectures in this lesson•3 minutes
Feedback•10 minutes
3 assignments•Total 95 minutes
Graded quiz on Tangent Lines to Functions, Exponents and Logarithms •45 minutes
Practice Quiz on Tangent Lines to Functions •10 minutes
Practice quiz on Exponents and Logarithms•40 minutes
Introduction to Probability Theory
Module 4•3 hours to complete
Module details
This module introduces the vocabulary and notation of probability theory – mathematics for the study of outcomes that are uncertain but have predictable rates of occurrence.
We start with the basic definitions and rules of probability, including the probability of two or more events both occurring, the sum rule and the product rule, and then proceed to Bayes’ Theorem and how it is used in practical problems.
What's included
8 videos4 readings4 assignments
Show info about module content
8 videos•Total 66 minutes
Probability Definitions and Notation•8 minutes
Joint Probabilities•6 minutes
Permutations and Combinations•12 minutes
Using Factorial and “M choose N”•7 minutes
The Sum Rule, Conditional Probability, and the Product Rule•9 minutes
Bayes’ Theorem (Part 1)•11 minutes
Bayes’ Theorem (Part 2)•5 minutes
The Binomial Theorem and Bayes Theorem•8 minutes
4 readings•Total 19 minutes
A note about the video lectures in this lesson•3 minutes
A note about the video lectures in this lesson•3 minutes
A note about the video lectures in this lesson•3 minutes
Feedback•10 minutes
4 assignments•Total 125 minutes
Probability (basic and Intermediate) Graded Quiz•50 minutes
Practice quiz on Probability Concepts•25 minutes
Practice quiz on Problem Solving•25 minutes
Practice quiz on Bayes Theorem and the Binomial Theorem•25 minutes
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Reviewed on Sep 16, 2017
Good refresher. Weeks 3 and 4 are much more difficult to follow than one and two. Part of this is due to the subject matter but also a change of teacher / and style makes it more difficult.
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AQ
4·
Reviewed on Jul 11, 2025
unfortunately, the certificate was not generated, which was disappointing. Although the course content was informative and well-structured. I hope this issue is resolved for future learners.
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Reviewed on Nov 25, 2022
Good course. The probability portion is very challenging. Dr. Eggers is a tremendous instructor, but I did not feel adequately prepared for the some of the practical application in the quizzes.
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