About
Proficiency in Ocean Data Science - Online
A beginning course sequence for students interested in STEM careers related to ocean science or for developing data science skills in preparation for the demands of a data-driven society.
Who: Early career STEM students
What: Series of courses and research experiences focused on ocean and environmental data collection, analysis and visualization.
Why: Prepare students to be technically relevant in understanding ocean processes that are important to societal health.
Program Objectives
The primary objective of PODS online is assist early career STEM undergraduate students through a series of data-centric courses and research experiences that prepare them for careers in fields critical to evaluating ocean health. The novel curriculum focuses on the collection, analysis, interpretation and communication of data. We will use high-impact multidimensional interventions and pedagogical best practices to facilitate and support student learning. The curriculum is delivered online with training and support for an active learning environment to ensure the sustainability of the courses and the integrity of the pedagogy. A modular design of the courses and each individual activities will allow for the portability of the curriculum to different geographic regions, with the intent of scaling the content to different educational levels (e.g., secondary school through graduate school). A content management system (CMS) is be used to expose students and faculty to emerging technologies for sharing data and ideas in support of collaborative problem solving. The courses were developed at the University of Rhode Island (URI) through the Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) with financial support and program review by the U.S. Navy. The URI campus course sequence pursued a primary goal of expanding the prepared STEM workforce pipeline to the Navy and Navy-related facilities.
The Curriculum
The PODS (Proficiency in Ocean Data Science) online curriculum is comprised of five foundational courses designed to best begin a pursuit of proficiency in Ocean Data Science advised by a PODS taxonomy.
Current courses will be iterated upon to best serve the demographics of students who take the five-course sequence. Additional courses will be designed and implemented based on demand and interest with continued design and implementation by domain experts.
