Training Students and Educators in Hands-On Data Science

The "big data" revolution has changed the way businesses, government, and research are conducted, generating new information and shaping critical decisions at all levels. Data science competency is essential in today’s data-rich world. Currently, the demand for well-trained data scientists exceeds the supply. Even more concerning is the dearth of educators who have the background, training and materials to teach data science concepts in their classrooms. This project aims to (1) foster data science competency through hands-on research and (2) equip educators with the knowledge and tools to incorporate data science concepts into their classrooms. The project will bring together undergraduate students and high-school teachers, who will work in mixed-group teams. The project will be run in a hybrid mode with a six-week in-person component over the summer, followed by regularly scheduled remote sessions over the fall semester to provide research extension for undergraduates and pedagogical support for educators. These innovative activities will generate unique educational experiences that enable teachers to generate data science teaching materials that will attract a broad range of students and increase the data science workforce. The project aims to advance data science research and data science pedagogy. Program participants will be exposed to the challenges and approaches of working with large-scale heterogeneous and complex real-world data, from their acquisition, storage and pre-processing to their analyses and interpretation. Trainees will be taught methods and skills in computational techniques, statistical/machine learning algorithms, and the application of these tools to a wide range of substantive problems in the sciences. Participants will also get training on curriculum development and strategies to integrate data science modules into their teaching. They will develop curricula and education materials, which the educators will use in their classrooms, thereby exposing their students to data science concepts and better preparing them for careers in data intensive fields from an early stage. This project is supported by the Data Science Corps program, which supports data science education and training to build a strong national data science infrastructure and workforce. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.