Table of Contents
The Student- Mentor Workspace Organization & Structure
Purpose
Each student has a dedicated workspace to document progress and deliverables.
- student/ is shared (student + mentor)
- mentor/ is mentor-only (private notes and drafts)
Folder structure
Suggested directory layout
/Data_Skills_Pathway/students/lastname_firstname/
├── student/
│ ├── 00_admin/
│ ├── 01_orientation/
│ ├── 02_tools_workshop/
│ ├── 03_data_collection_or_modeling/
│ ├── 04_guided_analysis/
│ ├── 05_capstone_project/
│ ├── 06_deliverables/
│
└── mentor/
├── 00_meeting_notes/
What Each Folder is For ?
Student/
This is the main working space. Everything the student produces should be documented in this workspace. This workspace will be shared between the student and mentor.
student/00_admin/
Purpose: setup + planning + project organization. Put here:
- learning plan (goals + skills to practice)
- work schedule (weekly plan + meeting time)
- project brief (project title, question, scope, success criteria)
- contacts + quick links + access notes (tools/data locations)
- any required forms/templates
student/01_orientation/
Purpose: Week 1–2 orientation products. Put here:
- orientation reflections
- career/skills goal notes
- project interests + initial project selection notes
student/02_tools_workshop/
Purpose: Week 3–4 training outputs. Put here:
- practice notebooks/scripts
- “how-to” notes (plotting, data cleaning, reading files)
- small exercises and mini-checkpoints
student/03_data_collection_or_modeling/
Purpose: Week 5–10 data intake and/or model output preparation. Put here:
- raw data notes (where data came from, time ranges, variables)
- configuration/metadata notes
- model run notes (if applicable)
- data/model log (what you downloaded/processed and why)
student/04_guided_analysis/
Purpose: Week 5–10 analysis with mentor guidance. Put here:
- weekly progress log (weekly)
- analysis notebooks/scripts used for figures/results
- figures/ (plots + captions)
- intermediate findings and “next steps” notes
student/05_capstone_project/
Purpose: Week 11–15 capstone mini-project build. Put here:
- project plan + milestones
- final analysis notebook/script versions
- final figure set
- draft report text and draft slides
student/06_deliverables/
Purpose: final submission package (clean and complete). Put here:
- final_report.pdf (or .docx if requested)
- final_slides.pdf (or .pptx)
- reproducibility_readme.md (how to reproduce the results)
- final figures (publication-ready)
Mentor
This folder is not for student writing. It is for mentor-only notes and drafts. The mentor can share his notes with the student (when needed).
mentor/00_meeting_notes/
Purpose: internal meeting records:
- meeting date + attendance
- Tasks + notes and follow-up items
Note-sharing + Notification Rule
Mentor notes are private by default. If the mentor wants to share feedback with a student, the mentor will place a cleaned version inside the mentor workspace and use a clear filename such as:
- feedback_shared_YYYYMMDD.md
Student notification requirement When a student uploads new items or adds new notes (logs, notebooks, figures, drafts), the student must email their mentor the same day (or within 24 hours) to:
- confirm what was added/updated,
- provide the exact path to the new files, and
- List any questions or blockers.
Email preparation (student → mentor)
Subject line (use one of these):
- Data Skills Pathway – Update (lastname_firstname) – Week X
- Data Skills Pathway – New Uploads (lastname_firstname) – [date]
Email body (copy/paste template):
Hi [Mentor Name], I uploaded/updated new items in my Data Skills Pathway workspace. Paths are below: 1) What I added/updated (with paths) - [short description] — /Data_Skills_Pathway/students/lastname_firstname/student/[folder]/[filename] - [short description] — /Data_Skills_Pathway/students/lastname_firstname/student/[folder]/[filename] 2) Key results (1–3 bullets) - [result/figure summary] - [result/figure summary] 3) Questions / blockers - [question or blocker] - [question or blocker] 4) What I’m doing next (next 1 week) - [next step] Thank you, [Student Name]