NSF IUSE for Data Analytics

A data analytics certificate for non-computing majors

NSF Award

About the project

This project seeks to address a national interest by creating and testing an innovative pathway for students from various academic backgrounds, not necessarily in computing, to acquire technical skills and earn an academic certificate focused on real-world career applications. The curriculum will introduce programming gradually, starting from no-code to low-code to high-code approaches, making it accessible to a wide range of students. This program will also be designed with a social justice context to attract historically marginalized communities in computing, thus aiming to make data science more inclusive and relevant to students outside of the field of Computer Science.

The curriculum will undergo rigorous research to assess its effectiveness in increasing awareness, access, and interest in data science. Research activities will inform the development of a data science certificate program for non-computing majors, measure its impact on participants, and potentially bring about fundamental changes in computer science training. The research will evaluate the utility of the certification from practitioners' perspectives using a Design Based Research approach, assess how the approach enhances students' foundational knowledge of data science, influences their career choices, and shapes their identities and perceptions using the Social Cognitive Career Theory framework. Lastly, the research will investigate how this innovation can transform undergraduate computing education, identify factors that support replication and sustainability, and study system-level changes using system mapping. In summary, the project aims to make data science more accessible and relevant to a broader range of students while addressing issues of social justice and diversity in the field.

More information can be found here.