U. Illinois launches “computer science in data science” degree

New computer science in data science master’s degree aims to fill gap in data science training programs

Coursera and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have partnered on a professional data science master’s degree.

The University of Illinois will open access to its data science curriculum at a fraction of the cost of a traditional on-campus or online master’s degree through the Master of Computer Science in Data Science (MCS-DS) degree on Coursera.

Data science has quickly become one of the most sought-after and highest-paid professions in the United States, yet few highly ranked master’s programs exist today that are developed specifically for training data scientists, and none offer the scale of an open online course platform. This degree taps a whole new demographic of potential data scientists who are unable to take a traditional education path by reimagining graduate-level education as a “stackable” degree.…Read More

ASU receives $10 Million NASA grant for science courseware

University will develop adaptive, simulation-based lessons that help faculty bring science to life, drawing upon NASA’s own science content.

Arizona State University has received a $10.18 million grant from NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Education Community to develop next-generation digital learning experiences that incorporate NASA science content.

Principal Investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton and Deputy Principal Investigator Ariel Anbar of ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) will lead the development and evaluation teams for this grant.

During the five-year program, ASU-based teams will work with the Inspark Science Network and ASU’s Center for Education Through eXploration (ETX), to develop a new way of learning and teaching through exploration of the unknown, at scale, via a digital learning design platform.…Read More

5 strategies to keep STEM students in STEM

Universities give best practices to attract, retain, and support students within STEM fields.

Developing new minds ready to take on careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) may be a national priority in the U.S., but if the current trends in higher education continue, that goal could be pretty difficult to achieve. According to National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) STEM Attrition: College Students’ Paths Into and Out of STEM Fields Statistical Analysis Report, about 28 percent of bachelor’s degree students and 20 percent of associate’s degree students entered a STEM field (i.e., they chose a STEM-related major) at some point within six years of entering postsecondary education in 2003−04.

“Many of these STEM entrants left STEM several years later by either changing majors or leaving college without completing a degree or certificate,” the NCES reports. “A total of 48 percent of bachelor’s degree students and 69 percent of associate’s degree students who entered STEM fields between 2003 and 2009 had left these fields by spring 2009. Roughly one-half of these leavers switched their majors to non-STEM fields, and the rest of them left STEM fields by exiting college before earning a degree or certificate.”

The fact that nearly half of the nation’s STEM career candidates either switch majors or leave school entirely before graduation is alarming, particularly since many of those students have the “highest SAT scores, highest AP science scores, and go to the most prestigious colleges and universities,” stated Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), in a recent eCampusNews article. In the piece, Hrabowski points to the typical lineup of “weed-out” classes as one of the primary drivers of the mass exodus from STEM majors. In other words, survival of the fittest may not actually be the best educational approach in fields where even the brightest, most industrious students are challenged to their very cores.…Read More

Increasing female enrollment in UW’s iSchool narrowing the gender gap

Record percentage of female students is helping diminish the school’s STEM gender gap

The University of Washington’s Information School‘s 2015-16 undergraduate cohort in informatics is not only the school’s largest yet with 210 students, it also includes more women students than ever before — about 40 percent.

Students in informatics learn to design information systems, user interfaces, mobile technologies and social media. The curriculum draws upon the computer and information sciences, sociology, psychology and information management.

Increasing participation of women in informatics has been an iSchool goal for several years, “and many have worked hard to help us get there,” said Scott Barker, UW lecturer and program chair, by hiring female faculty and actively recruiting women applicants.…Read More

South Dakota Mines to collaborate with Harvard Business School

Agreement will allow SD Mines students to earn a business fundamentals HBX Credential of Readiness to complement their STEM degrees and boost their career potential

The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology has signed a collaborative agreement with the Harvard Business School to make available the HBX Credential of Readiness (CORe) business fundamentals program to SD Mines students.

CORe is a multi-week online program focused on the fundamentals of business thinking. Designed for non-business majors, CORe includes coursework in business analytics, economics for managers and financial accounting taught using the Harvard Business School case-study method.

“Several of our students took CORe last summer and rated it highly as a good complement to our exceptional engineering program. We are particularly interested in encouraging our students to take this program while on internships and co-ops,” said Heather Wilson, president of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.…Read More

5 “maker” apps that give students post-college skills

From admissions to jobs post-graduation, showcasing maker skills provides an edge in the competition—and now, there are apps for that.

From colleges’ and universities’ decisions to allow student “maker” portfolios in admissions, to companies eager to hire talent that can demonstrate creative, problem-solving skill, the maker movement is gaining traction in education…and in the app store.

The “maker movement”— the push to have individuals construct functional products that are recreated and assembled using unused, discarded or broken electronic, plastic, silicon or virtually any raw material and/or product from a computer-related device—has considerable traction in the K-12 arena, and is gaining momentum in higher education (e.g. MIT’s maker admissions) as demonstrable skills are becoming critical in a world grown tired of SAT scores and all-too-common bachelor degrees. Even the White House held a Maker Faire in 2015.

MIT’s video on incorporating “maker” portfolios in admissions:…Read More

Another critical campus area now moving to the cloud

Cloud-based virtual labs could become key for universities looking to save money and improve student learning.

In an innovative move, faculty from colleges and universities are working with a tech company to create fully mobile, real-world, cloud-based virtual labs.

Why? Because as Virginia-based IT solutions provider Aeronomy explains, harnessing cloud infrastructure to help alleviate strained funding is critical for one of STEM’s most invaluable resources: the lab.

Founded in 2013, Aeronomy initially began as an infrastructure-neutral, cloud-based solutions provider for businesses, but quickly discovered they could serve the higher education market as well by creating virtual labs that allow colleges and universities to save on costs and better support students.…Read More

Urgent: This innovation myth needs to end

First-ever report reveals the most prolific innovators in the U.S. are not young entrepreneurial college dropouts; rather, highly educated immigrants with STEM degrees.

It’s the myth that just won’t go away and is, in part, responsible for the current belief amongst Millennials and Gen Z’ers that higher education isn’t relevant: today’s most successful and brilliant innovators are young entrepreneurs that drop out of college (e.g. Mark Zuckerberg, Jan Koum, Sean Parker).

And though these drop-out entrepreneurs may have a pop culture edge thanks to the popularity of WhatsApp and Facebook amongst younger users, a new report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) reveals that the innovators that are not only the most prolific, but spur the most tech progress for the U.S., are, in fact, immigrants with Masters degrees or higher in STEM fields.

The report, written by Adams Nager, economic policy analyst at ITIF; David Hart, professor and director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy at the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs at George Mason University; Stephen Ezell, vice president of global innovation policy at ITIF; and Robert Atkinson, founder and president of ITIF; defines an innovator as someone that “drives technological progress by creating innovative new products and services that raise incomes and improve quality of life for everyone.”…Read More

MIT launches initiatives to accelerate learning research, applications

New efforts aim understand learning, improve it at all levels of education

MIT-learningMIT is launching a significant expansion of programs in learning research and online and digital education, including the creation of the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative (MITili), along with a new effort to increase MIT’s ability to improve STEM learning from pre-kindergarten through high school.

During the announcement, MIT President L. Rafael Reif also made mention of a program to support faculty innovations in MIT residential education and new work to enhance MIT’s continuing education programs.

The MITili initiative will be led by Professor John Gabrieli, and the STEM learning effort will be led by Professor Angela Belcher.…Read More

$500K grant funds female STEM professorships

Duke University grant will fund two new female faculty positions in the computer science and engineering departments

female-STEMA five-year, $500,000 grant will fund two professorships for new female faculty in the computer science and electrical and computer engineering departments at Duke University.

The grant from the Henry Luce Foundation’s Clare Boothe Luce (CBL) Program will further the university’s goal of attracting and supporting more women in those research areas, and creating more opportunity for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Duke is committing another $2.5 million to fully fund the positions at the Pratt School of Engineering and Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.…Read More

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