Collaborative Research: HDR DSC: Increasing Accessibility through Building Alternative Data Science Pathways

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As computers become faster and less expensive, huge amounts of data are being produced every day. Data scientists are trained to analyze this information and apply the results to scientific research, engineering challenges, business decisions, and other efforts to improve society. The demand for data scientists increased by 28 percent between 2019 and 2020, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 11.5 million data science jobs will be created by 2026. This project will help meet this need by making data science education available to more diverse populations of students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). This project will also develop flexible curriculum materials that can be used to add specialized data science coursework to undergraduate programs at other institutions, beginning with Spelman College and seeking to grow this to the Atlanta University Center and beyond. In a combined synergistic effort, Spelman College, the Atlanta University Center Data Science Initiative and Michigan State University (MSU) seek to address issues of accessibility through a joint partnership focused on creating pathways to foster data science education across STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) disciplines. First, the proposed partnership seeks to build a 3+2 BS+MS program (BS-Bachelors of Science, MS-Masters of Science). This 3+2 program will allow students to complete their BS in a STEM field (e.g., Mathematics, Physics, Biology) at Spelman and complete a MS in Data Science at MSU, while also providing a strong foundation and clear trajectory for students interested in obtaining a PhD. Second, this partnership seeks to develop a minor in Data Science at Spelman, targeting students across STEM fields. In creating this minor, we will leverage work already done at MSU to create a data science program and the expertise of faculty at Spelman to develop curricula that serves the needs of undergraduates from diverse majors and backgrounds. The new educational material we seek to create is based on an innovative one month one credit curriculum that was initially designed to develop skills in bio-informatics for students at MSU. Harnessing these ideas and mapping them onto the needs of Spelman STEM students, we seek to create an accessible pathway into data science that meets students where they are in their educational journey. These educational efforts will create pathways for STEM majors who seek to bring to bear the power of modern data science methods in their STEM field of study, both at MSU and Spelman. The curriculum will serve as a model for creating accessible data science educational initiatives nationwide.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.