Introduction to Python for Data Science

Who is this course for?

This course is intended for you who wish to learn the basics of programming in Python with focus on data science. The skills you develop in this course will also be of great benefit if you continue studying at the Big Data Analytics Specialisation programme at Arcada. 

Please note that this course is free of charge for participants who within a year continue their studies via Arcada's Big Data Analytics Specalisation programme. (The offer will be realized when you are admitted to the Specialisation programme.)

What you will learn

Upon completion of the course, you understand the basics of the Python programming language and you are capable of developing simple applications. You will also learn the basics of acquiring, pre-processing and visualizing data using the Pandas library.

Course content

Basics

• Python as a programming language
• Python environments (Anaconda)

• Jupyter notebooks

  Others

Python programming basics

• Program structure
• Built-in functions
• Variables
• Data types
• Operators
• Repetition and conditions
• Functions and procedures

Data science

• Data pre-processing and manipulation with Pandas
• Numpy arrays
• Visulization with Matplotlib and seaborn

Study Format and timetable

Teaching takes place on campus at Arcada, Jan-Magnus Janssonin aukio 1, Helsinki, consisting of lectures and supervised programming exercises. The course grade is assessed based on practical programming assignments.

Study days

Autumn 2026:

• 03 August 4–7 pm 
• 05 August 4–7 pm
• 10 August 4–7 pm
• 12 August 4–7 pm 
• 17 August 4–7 pm 
• 19 August 4–7 pm
• 24 August 4–7 pm 
• 26 August 4–7 pm 

Please note that the timetable is subject to change.