COVID-Inspired Data Science Education through Epidemiology

正在进行的COVID-19大流行为赋权年轻人通过流行病学了解数据科学的用途提供了一个起点。通过该项目，全国400名缺乏服务的青少年将参加一个15小时的校外多媒体项目，该项目以项目开发的文本《新冠肺炎危机案例》为中心，将数据活动、建模、动画和职业探索结合在一起。参与者将：1)学习使用数据工具和模型来跟踪传染病的传播；2)了解如何提出和解决自己的数据问题；3)对他们使用数据进行研究并向当地受众传达流行病学挑战的能力获得信心。该项目还旨在鼓励年轻人对数据丰富的流行病学学科的各种职业产生兴趣。该项目将通过多方面的合作伙伴关系来实现这些目标，包括科学教育解决方案、Tumblehome Books、Imagine Science/STEM Next、康科德联盟、杰克逊实验室（JAX）、创新战略学习合作伙伴和PEAR研究所（教育和弹性伙伴关系）。数据集和工具正在迅速进入日常使用，特别是在大流行期间。该项目的研究在年轻人，特别是那些传统上无法在学校获得数据工具的年轻人如何开始使用这些工具来应对COVID-19和其他疾病的传播方面开辟了新的领域。本研究以文化历史活动理论为基础，采用调查、文献和文物分析相结合的研究方法。该研究将通过以下方式对数据科学教育领域做出贡献：1)阐明青少年使用数据集和数据工具提出流行病学问题、检查模式和做出预测的方式；2)研究年轻人如何有动力从事数据科学和流行病学交叉领域的工作；3)考察综合教学策略的多方面干预的可行性，包括使用叙事、基于探究的数据活动、可访问的数据工具、动画和职业探索。该项目还将通过将真实的、与个人相关的数据纳入校外项目，为蓬勃发展的K-12流行病学教育领域做出重要贡献。该项目由“面向学生和教师的创新技术体验”（ITEST）项目资助，该项目支持有助于提高学生对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）以及信息和通信技术（ICT）职业的知识和兴趣的实践、项目要素、背景和过程的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic provides a starting point for empowering young people to understand uses of data science through epidemiology. Through this program, 400 underserved youth nationwide will engage in a 15-hour out-of-school multimedia program centered on a project-developed text, The Case of the COVID Crisis, which is integrated with data activities, modeling, animations, and career exploration. Participants will: 1) Learn to use data tools and models to track the spread of infectious diseases; 2) Develop an understanding of how to ask and address their own questions of data; and 3) Gain confidence in their ability to use data to study and communicate to local audiences about epidemiological challenges. The program is also aimed at encouraging youth’s interest in the myriad careers of the data-rich discipline of epidemiology. The project will achieve these goals through a multifaceted partnership involving Science Education Solutions, Tumblehome Books, Imagine Science/STEM Next, Concord Consortium, Jackson Laboratory (JAX), Strategic Learning Partners for Innovation, and the PEAR Institute (Partnerships in Education and Resilience). Datasets and tools are entering everyday usage at a rapid rate, especially during the pandemic. The project’s research breaks new ground on how youth, especially those who traditionally have not had access to data tools in school, begin using these tools to address the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases. This research is based on cultural historical activity theory, and employs a mixed methods approach involving surveys, documentation, and artifact analysis. The research will contribute to the field of data science education by: 1) Elucidating the ways in which youth use datasets and data tools to ask epidemiological questions, examine patterns, and make predictions; 2) Studying how youth become motivated to engage in work in the intersection of data science and epidemiology; and 3) Examining the affordances of a multifaceted intervention integrating pedagogical strategies, including the use of narrative, inquiry-based data activities, accessible data tools, animations, and career exploration. The project also will make an important contribution to the burgeoning area of K–12 epidemiology education by incorporating authentic, personally relevant data into out-of-school programming. This project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers.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.