Justin Gross (public policy/DACSS director) and Kelsey Shoub (public policy) are collaborating with faculty from the Department of Sociology and the College of Natural Sciences on an interdisciplinary project to improve STEM education, with a particular focus on attracting students from underrepresented groups in STEM fields.
The project, "S-SWIM: Sustainable Statistics with Impact Mindset across Levels and Disciplines at a Predominately White Institution" received a $398,236 grant by the National Science Foundation to inspire and attract new students to STEM through two newly developed statistics courses, which will be available to undergraduate students of statistics and other applied disciplines.
Other SBS faculty involved in the grant are David Cort (sociology), Josh Kaiser (sociology), Jen Lundquist (sociology), Tony Paik (sociology). Along with Justin Gross and Kelsey Shoub, this team of multidisciplinary faculty will contribute to project development and teaching. Additional collaborating faculty from CNS are Krista Gile, PI (mathematics and Coordinator of the Statistics Program); Buju Dasgupta (psychological and brain sciences and Director, Institute of Diversity Science); Holly Laws (psychological and brain sciences); Meg Graham MacLean (environmental conservation); and Paige Warren (environmental conservation). Buju Dasgupta will lead the program evaluation.
Assistant Professor of Public Policy Kelsey Shoub discussed the grant’s purpose and relevance for SPP students, stating, “The curriculum developed with the NSF grant will provide an appealing path for SBS undergraduates who want more advanced social data science and statistics skills. We believe the course developed from this grant will supply important and in-demand skills that students can add to their statistical toolkit and will be especially interesting for students planning to complete the coming DACSS undergraduate certificate.”
The newly developed statistics courses are:
1) Advanced Statistics with Impact Mindset (aSWIM), STAT 590IM (4 credits): advanced applied statistics with high-social-impact applications from the research of engaged applied science faculty. One weekly meeting is concurrent with:
2) Introductory Statistics with Impact Mindset (iSWIM), STAT 190IM (1 credit): data manipulation and visualization with near-peer mentoring and exposure to the impact of advanced statistics.