The Data Science Education Program (http://data.berkeley.edu/education) has three near-term opportunities to support instructors in learning and incorporating data science approaches. We are offering an early summer workshop, connector course development resources, and course module development support. Please let us know about your interests and needs!
Background
Building from the freshman level upwards, the Data Science Education Program offers an interdisciplinary curriculum that provides a foundation for Berkeley undergraduates of all majors to engage capably and critically with data. The Foundations of Data Science class (COMPSCI / INFO / STAT C8, familiarly Data 8) is currently serving over 1,000 students per year across about 60 majors and fulfills statistics requirements in 90 percent of the majors that have one. More than 20 entry-level “connector” courses have been created by instructors in disciplines from humanities to engineering. Instructors in many departments are now developing advanced courses in order to serve their existing majors, and to integrate with the major and minors to be offered through the Division of Data Science.
Data Science Pedagogy and Practice: A Short Summer Workshop (Week of June 5)
Learn data science concepts, pedagogical methods, and technical tools, and get help integrating them into your own practice. This workshop (June 5-7, with optional extension June 8-9) will cover some of the computational and statistical concepts that students learn in the Foundations of Data Science class through a hands-on analysis of real-world data. It will support instructors from all disciplines in exploring how to teach courses that can connect with and enrich this approach. Open to UC Berkeley instructors. No computational or statistical background required.
Workshop interest form (by May 5): https://goo.gl/forms/5FZmtIXjphxiWk553
More information: http://data.berkeley.edu/education-program/data-science-pedagogy-workshop
Proposals for Data Science Connector Courses (Fall or Spring)
Students in Data 8 learn computational and statistical concepts from a variety of examples spanning a broad range of disciplines. Connector courses (2, 3, or 4 units, often numbered 88) are designed to build on students’ analytical knowledge from Data 8 in connection to their own interests in a specific field. Connectors can be housed in a department, cross-listed in multiple programs, or piloted as a L&S course. The Data Science Education Program seeks to broaden the suite of connector offerings available to students and increase the potential to integrate data science into existing curricula. It is able to provide a range of technical, pedagogical, financial, and community-building support to you in piloting a course, as well as computer lab space and lab assistants.
Connector interest form (by May 15 for summer assistance): https://goo.gl/forms/WMSt8UDB8uOcwdus2
See current & past connector course offerings: http://data8.org/connector/
Data Science Modules (A short lesson within your course)
Data science modules are short explorations that can give your students the opportunity to work hands-on with a dataset relevant to your course and receive instruction on the principles of data analysis, statistics, and computing. With help from the Data Science module development team, a module can be designed and taught in an existing course from any discipline or field. As the instructor, you do not need technical skills; you need only be open to learning new methods and tools. The goal is for instructors to work closely with the development team so that they can teach the modules themselves in the classroom, but development team members will be available in class for assistance. Some team members will be available in the summer for module development.
Module interest form (by May 15 for summer assistance): https://goo.gl/forms/559cZaIWT5HWyfSf2
More information: http://data.berkeley.edu/education-program/data-science-modules
Contact Us
If you have questions about the Data Science Education Program, feel free to contact us:
Sarah Reynolds (sar48@berkeley.edu), DSEP Curriculum Developer
Cathryn Carson (clcarson@berkeley.edu), DSEP Operational Lead
The following was sent to all UC Berkeley faculty on April 28, 2017.