Restricted Research - Award List, Note/Discussion Page
Fiscal Year: 2023
106 University of North Texas (141994)
Principal Investigator: Spector,Jonathan Michael
Total Amount of Contract, Award, or Gift (Annual before 2011): $ 309,188
Exceeds $250,000 (Is it flagged?): Yes
Start and End Dates: 10/1/22 - 9/30/25
Restricted Research: YES
Academic Discipline: Learning Technologies
Department, Center, School, or Institute: College of Information
Title of Contract, Award, or Gift: Distributed Learning Undergraduate Programs in Data Science from Diverse Universities
Name of Granting or Contracting Agency/Entity:
National Science Foundation
CFDA Link: NSF
47.076
Program Title:
none
CFDA Linked: Education and Human Resources
Note:
As big data analysis and artificial intelligence (AI) technology become more important with each passing year, it is important that undergraduates who intend to join the STEM workforce have the skill sets and confidence necessary to embrace the challenges that come with this revolution (Brenna et al., 2018, IBM Analytics 2020). However, there are relatively few opportunities for students at small and under-resourced colleges and universities, including most minority-serving institutions, to obtain access to relevant training. To address this problem, we have developed a network of 11 diverse institutions that enable us to pool our intellectual and material resources to provide world-class training opportunities in STEM technologies for our students. To bolster our efforts, we propose the implementation and delivery of data science (DS) courses to be taken by students in hybrid fashion at any network member institution that are designed to prepare students for careers in DS-related fields. To accomplish this, we intend to use novel distributed learning (DL) technologies that accommodate a hybrid virtual/in-person educational experience. Specifically, we propose to adopt transformative DL technologies developed by the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative of the United States Department of Defense (US DoD) to design and deliver 12 DS courses over the life of the grant that can provide access to high-quality education and training tailored to individual needs and delivered cost-effectively at any time and in any location. We anticipate that access to high quality DL courseware and AI-based educational technologies will transform the ways in which network instructors approach their teaching and automate several course functions, including formative assessment. However, the human component to education is obviously vital and this projects intends to augment, enrich, and transform existing in-person education rather than replace it.
Discussion: No discussion notes