Online Microcredential in IT & Computer Science

Applications of Machine Learning

Discover how machine learning is increasing throughout all industries and learn the in-demand skills to excel in your career.

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Cardiff UniversityCardiff University

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Gain practical experience in machine learning

Machine learning lies at the basis of many recent successes in AI, such as self-driving cars and search engines and now, many industries are discovering its benefits.

This microcredential from Cardiff University will help you understand how machine learning can help businesses in many ways – from reducing costs and improving customer experience to accelerating innovation.

Through guided tutorials, exercises, and labs, you’ll develop key machine learning skills and gain hands-on experience with its applications. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to maximise the potential of machine learning in your workplace.

Throughout the microcredential, you’ll meet representatives from various industries and explore real case studies which will bring the theory to life. This insight will help you finish with a solid understanding of machine learning fundamentals and demonstrable experience of how they can be applied to real-life situations.

Learn to identify and understand a variety of machine learning methods

You’ll delve into the principles underlying common machine learning methods and unpack both traditional methods as well as more recent neural network-based techniques.

With this knowledge, you’ll learn how to implement and evaluate machine learning methods to solve a given task.

Master the fundamentals of data preprocessing

To further your understanding of machine learning methods, you’ll also explore application-oriented aspects, such as how to pre-process data.

This will help you learn how to choose an appropriate machine learning method and data pre-processing strategy to address the needs of a given application setting. You’ll explore this in Python to learn feature engineering, selection, extraction, and dealing with class imbalance and missing data.

Understand how to implement machine learning techniques

To ensure you can apply what you have learned in real-life contexts, you’ll discover how to implement key machine learning techniques and how to choose which technique to use in a given situation.

You’ll also learn how to evaluate the performance of a machine learning system to ensure your processes are optimised.

Explore linear models of machine learning methods

Linear models are a widely used class of machine learning. On this microcredential, you’ll develop your understanding of linear models including support vector machines, decision trees, and ensemble learning.

In addition to these technical topics, you’ll also explore some important ethical considerations, including how the choice of training data can introduce unwanted biases in real-world applications.

With this knowledge, you’ll learn how to eliminate bias and how to assess the ethical implications and societal risks associated with the deployment of machine learning methods.

Improve your data analyst skills alongside industry experts

Guided by the specialists at Cardiff University, you’ll learn crucial data analysis skills to understand the importance of data representation for the success of machine learning models.

You’ll finish the microcredential with both theoretical and practical knowledge of machine learning methods and have the confidence to immediately start using this technology to excel in your career.

How does machine learning improve job opportunities?

Machine learning is a vastly growing field, with most industries having some form of machine learning applications.

As more and more industries adopt machine learning processes, this microcredential can help you develop future-ready skills for an in-demand career in technology.

Will I earn a machine learning qualification?

Yes, you’ll finish with a machine learning qualification from Cardiff University.

How will I be assessed?

You’ll be awarded credits upon passing the final assessment. The assessment will require you to complete a machine learning project on a given data set and will cover the main components of a typical machine learning pipeline. This will include data pre-processing, machine learning method selection and implementation, and performance evaluation.

As part of your assessment, you will also write a concise report (up to 1000 words, excluding tables and figures) to summarise your work and provide an analysis and discussion of the results.

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What skills will you learn?

  • Data pre-processing in Python
  • Data representation
  • Use machine learning libraries
  • Choose machine learning tools
  • Implement machine learning tools
  • Critical evaluation of machine learning methods

What you will achieve

By the end of the microcredential, you’ll be able to...

  • Explain the fundamental principles underlying common machine learning methods
  • Reflect on the importance of data representation for the success of machine learning methods
  • Critically appraise the ethical implications and societal risks associated with the deployment of machine learning methods
  • Choose an appropriate machine learning method and data pre-processing strategy to address the needs of a given application setting
  • Implement and evaluate machine learning methods to solve a given task

Are you eligible for this microcredential?

This microcredential is designed for a postgraduate level and it is recommended that you have completed a first degree in Computer Science, or similar, or have equivalent coding experience.

You should also have skills in Python or other common data science packages, linear algebra, and probability and statistics.

You’ll need a laptop or desktop computer with an internet connection to access the lab elements of this microcredential through Google’s Colab. Access to a Python platform such as Anaconda is helpful but not required.

Is this microcredential right for you?

This microcredential is designed for those interested in upskilling in the area of machine learning and is suitable for a variety of sectors.

You might be a data scientist or data analyst looking to develop your role to include machine learning or you could looking to specialise further in your field and apply machine learning to solve specific real-world issues.

Syllabus

What happens before, during, and after your microcredential

  • Course 1

    From 17 Jun 2024

    Introduction to Machine Learning and Data Preprocessing in Python

    This course introduces you to the concept of machine learning and runs through basic data preprocessing in Python.

    4 weeks

    • Week 1

      Machine learning fundamentals
      • Welcome to applications of machine learning
      • Introduction to machine learning
      • Machine learning pipelines
      • Machine learning approaches
      • Machine learning platforms
      • Wrapping up the week
    • Week 2

      Basic data preprocessing (1)
      • Welcome to Week 2
      • Introduction to data preprocessing
      • Feature engineering, selection, and extraction
      • Feature scaling
      • Wrapping up the week
    • Week 3

      Basic data preprocessing (2)
      • Welcome to Week 3
      • Categorical feature encoding
      • Dealing with missing data
      • Wrapping up the week
    • Week 4

      Basic data preprocessing (3)
      • Welcome to Week 4
      • Dimensionality reduction
      • Learning from Imbalanced Data
      • Wrapping up this course
  • Course 2

    From 17 Jun 2024

    Evaluating Machine Learning Methods

    Learn how to design and evaluate machine learning experiments and discover the importance of eliminating bias in experiments.

    2 weeks

    3 hours per week

    • Week 1

      Designing machine learning methods
      • Welcome to evaluating machine learning
      • Designing machine learning experiments
      • Performance assessment methods
      • Evaluation metrics
      • Wrapping up the week
    • Week 2

      Bias and ethics in machine learning
      • Welcome to week 2
      • Bias in machine learning
      • Ethics and bias
      • Wrapping up the week
  • Course 3

    From 17 Jun 2024

    Linear Models and Support Vector Machines

    Discover the traditional machine learning approach: linear machine learning models and theory.

    2 weeks

    • Week 1

      Introduction to Linear Models
      • Welcome to linear models and support vector machines
      • Linear Regression
      • Iterative optimisation methods
      • Increasing model complexity
      • Wrapping up the week
    • Week 2

      Regularised Linear Models and Support Vector Machines
      • Welcome to Week 2
      • Regularised linear models
      • Logistic regression
      • Support vector machines
      • Wrapping up this course
  • Course 4

    From 17 Jun 2024

    Neural Networks

    This course will help you unpack neural networks and explore examples of standard neural network architectures.

    4 weeks

    • Week 1

      Ensemble Learning
      • Welcome to Ensemble Learning & Neural Networks
      • Decision trees
      • Ensemble learning
      • Random Forest & AdaBoost
      • Wrapping up the week
    • Week 2

      Neural networks 1
      • Welcome to week 2
      • Introduction to neural networks
      • Optimisation in neural networks
      • Activation and regularisation in neural networks
      • Wrapping up the week
    • Week 3

      Neural Networks 2
      • Welcome to week 3
      • Convolutional neural networks
      • Recurrent neural networks
      • Autoencoders
      • Wrapping up the week
    • Week 4

      Transformers & Conclusion
      • Welcome to week 4
      • Transformers
      • Microcredential summary
      • Your assignment submission
      • Wrapping up the microcredential

What you will receive

15 UK Credits at Postgraduate level from Cardiff University

Find out how credits work and where you can use them in our FAQs.

What is a microcredential?

Microcredentials are designed to upskill you for work in rapidly-growing industries, without the time and cost commitment of a full degree. Your microcredential can stand alone as an independent credential, and some also offer academic credit to use towards a degree.

Learn online with expert instructors

Complete online courses led by experts over multiple weeks with a dedicated group of professionals.

Complete project-based assessments

Test your understanding with online tutor-marked assessments and exercises.

Earn a professional credential

Finish your learning and pass your assessments to gain an accredited credential.

Advance further in your career

Use your microcredential as evidence of your specialised skills and progress further in your industry.

Career-focused learning by Cardiff University

Cardiff University is a member of the Russell Group of the UK’s leading research-intensive universities and is ranked within the top 150 universities in the world in the QS World University Rankings.

Delivered by experts

I am a Professor in the School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University. My research interests include Computer Graphics, Computer Vision and Machine Learning.

I am Reader at the School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University. My research includes artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science and neural networks.

I am working as a Teaching Associate at Cardiff University. My specialization is mainly in Data Science and Software Engineering. I have years of experience working in industry and education sector.

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    FAQ

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    You will have 14 days from the day the course starts to apply for a refund. If this Microcredential has any non-refundable costs they will be stated in the ‘Overview’ section above. You can find more information in our cancellation and refund policy.

    Microcredentials are designed to fit around your life and timezone.

    There may be live events as part of your studies, but these will be recorded and can be watched afterwards if you aren’t online for the live broadcast.

    No, microcredentials are designed to be taken anywhere in the world. You won’t need the right to study in the country where the university offering the microcredential is based.

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