The courses offered are all in connection with web and digital data visualization skill building.

PS150 Applied Data Skills using R & R Studio (1 cr.). Session 1: August 28 through October 14: This short, applied course is intended for those with little, or no, programming experience. You will be introduced to the basic skills you need to import, clean, transform, analyze, and visualize behavioral data in R using R Studio and the tidyverse collection of packages.

PS150 Psychological Principles of Data Visualization (1 cr.) Session 2: October 23 through December 16: In this short course, you will explore a framework for thinking about effective data visualization based, in part, on research in graphical perception and cognitive psychology. You will also begin to practice applying this knowledge in Tableau.

PS150/CAR150 Introduction to Excel (1 cr.) BOTH Session 1 & Session 2
Excel, a spreadsheet program that allows organization, calculation and information analysis has become the most requested skill among employers. Employers in all fields seek candidates who already possess 21st-century skills such as data manipulation. Whether you are managing a budget, running a nonprofit or manipulating and analyzing scientific research data, Excel is your tool. In this online course, students learn the basics of Excel, including sorting, filtering, grouping, functions, formulas, charting and pivot tables.

Paul LoCasto, professor and chair of psychology, talks about the benefits of these courses, and how they can help students prepare for the future.

“From the point of view of the department of psychology, our students find themselves in a diverse number of positions across various career sectors — giving them a firm foundation in human behavior research design and data analysis has always been central to our curriculum — however, offering skill-centric, 1 credit offerings allows us to reach more students and also help them see how these objectives of the psychology department generalize past being a ‘psychology major’ and are beneficial no matter where they might find themselves after they graduate,” said LoCosto.

The College of Arts and Sciences took part in the American Association of Colleges and Universities Curriculum to Career Institute to advance students' career preparation post-graduation. This initiative to provide more classes 1 credit classes will increase knowledge and skills in students’ prospective fields of study.

Students can sign up for these courses normally in self-service under student planning. If students have any trouble doing so, they should contact LoCasto at paul.locasto@qu.edu.