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COVID-INSPIRED DATA SCIENCE EDUCATION THROUGH EPIDEMIOLOGY -THE ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC PROVIDES A STARTING POINT FOR EMPOWERING YOUNG PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND USES OF DATA SCIENCE THROUGH EPIDEMIOLOGY. THROUGH THIS PROGRAM, 400 UNDERSERVED YOUTH NATIONWIDE WILL ENGAGE IN A 15-HOUR OUT-OF-SCHOOL MULTIMEDIA PROGRAM CENTERED ON A PROJECT-DEVELOPED TEXT, THE CASE OF THE COVID CRISIS, WHICH IS INTEGRATED WITH DATA ACTIVITIES, MODELING, ANIMATIONS, AND CAREER EXPLORATION. PARTICIPANTS WILL: 1) LEARN TO USE DATA TOOLS AND MODELS TO TRACK THE SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES; 2) DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO ASK AND ADDRESS THEIR OWN QUESTIONS OF DATA; AND 3) GAIN CONFIDENCE IN THEIR ABILITY TO USE DATA TO STUDY AND COMMUNICATE TO LOCAL AUDIENCES ABOUT EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CHALLENGES. THE PROGRAM IS ALSO AIMED AT ENCOURAGING YOUTH?S INTEREST IN THE MYRIAD CAREERS OF THE DATA-RICH DISCIPLINE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY. THE PROJECT WILL ACHIEVE THESE GOALS THROUGH A MULTIFACETED PARTNERSHIP INVOLVING SCIENCE EDUCATION SOLUTIONS, TUMBLEHOME BOOKS, IMAGINE SCIENCE/STEM NEXT, CONCORD CONSORTIUM, JACKSON LABORATORY (JAX), STRATEGIC LEARNING PARTNERS FOR INNOVATION, AND THE PEAR INSTITUTE (PARTNERSHIPS IN EDUCATION AND RESILIENCE). DATASETS AND TOOLS ARE ENTERING EVERYDAY USAGE AT A RAPID RATE, ESPECIALLY DURING THE PANDEMIC. THE PROJECT?S RESEARCH BREAKS NEW GROUND ON HOW YOUTH, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO TRADITIONALLY HAVE NOT HAD ACCESS TO DATA TOOLS IN SCHOOL, BEGIN USING THESE TOOLS TO ADDRESS THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 AND OTHER DISEASES. THIS RESEARCH IS BASED ON CULTURAL HISTORICAL ACTIVITY THEORY, AND EMPLOYS A MIXED METHODS APPROACH INVOLVING SURVEYS, DOCUMENTATION, AND ARTIFACT ANALYSIS. THE RESEARCH WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE FIELD OF DATA SCIENCE EDUCATION BY: 1) ELUCIDATING THE WAYS IN WHICH YOUTH USE DATASETS AND DATA TOOLS TO ASK EPIDEMIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS, EXAMINE PATTERNS, AND MAKE PREDICTIONS; 2) STUDYING HOW YOUTH BECOME MOTIVATED TO ENGAGE IN WORK IN THE INTERSECTION OF DATA SCIENCE AND EPIDEMIOLOGY; AND 3) EXAMINING THE AFFORDANCES OF A MULTIFACETED INTERVENTION INTEGRATING PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGIES, INCLUDING THE USE OF NARRATIVE, INQUIRY-BASED DATA ACTIVITIES, ACCESSIBLE DATA TOOLS, ANIMATIONS, AND CAREER EXPLORATION. THE PROJECT ALSO WILL MAKE AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE BURGEONING AREA OF K?12 EPIDEMIOLOGY EDUCATION BY INCORPORATING AUTHENTIC, PERSONALLY RELEVANT DATA INTO OUT-OF-SCHOOL PROGRAMMING. THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED BY THE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS (ITEST) PROGRAM, WHICH SUPPORTS PROJECTS THAT BUILD UNDERSTANDINGS OF PRACTICES, PROGRAM ELEMENTS, CONTEXTS AND PROCESSES CONTRIBUTING TO INCREASING STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE AND INTEREST IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) CAREERS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

PUFFINS: EXPLORING HOW NARRATIVE, DATA SCIENCE, AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ENHANCE THE STUDY OF ECOLOGY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL -THE STUDY OF PUFFINS CAN PROVIDE A FASCINATING SUBJECT AREA FOR THE INTEGRATED LEARNING OF DATA AND ECOSYSTEMS. ONCE HUNTED TO LOCAL EXTINCTION, PUFFINS HAVE MADE A DRAMATIC YET FRAGILE COMEBACK AND BEEN RE-ESTABLISHED TO HISTORIC NESTING ISLANDS IN MID-COAST MAINE. THIS PROJECT COMBINES A SCIENTIFIC ADVENTURE STORY ABOUT PUFFIN RESTORATION WITH STUDENT-DIRECTED DATA INVESTIGATIONS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PUFFIN HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS. STUDENTS WILL EXAMINE TRENDS AND CORRELATIONS IN SEVERAL DECADES OF CURATED NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY DATA ABOUT PUFFINS, USING AN ACCESSIBLE OPEN-SOURCE EDUCATION DATA TOOL TO EXAMINE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG VARIABLES INCLUDING SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE, HATCH ISLAND, FISH IN THE PUFFIN DIET, FLEDGLING WEIGHT, AND SURVIVAL TO BREEDING AGE. THEY WILL USE PRESENT-DAY DATA FROM PUFFIN WEBCAMS AND SOUND RECORDINGS TO SUPPLEMENT THEIR WORK WITH HISTORICAL DATASETS. STUDENTS WILL TRAIN AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) SYSTEM TO DISTINGUISH AMONG PUFFIN VOCALIZATIONS, LEARN CONCEPTS OF DATA BIASES, AND EXAMINE HOW PATTERNS OF PUFFIN CALLS ASSOCIATE WITH OTHER ASPECTS OF PUFFIN BEHAVIOR AND HEALTH. STUDENTS ALSO WILL INSTALL THEIR OWN WEBCAMS AT SCHOOL TO GENERALIZE THEIR STUDY ON THE BEHAVIOR OF LOCAL BIRDS AND LEARN HOW SCIENTISTS USE WEBCAMS. FINALLY, STUDENTS WILL INTERACT WITH FORMER INTERNS FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS WHO HAVE WORKED ON MAINE?S PUFFIN ISLANDS TO LEARN HOW DATA ARE BEING USED TO STUDY ORNITHOLOGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE. THE PROJECT WILL ENABLE MAINE?S RURAL AND URBAN STUDENTS, STUDENTS WHOSE FIRST LANGUAGE IS NOT ENGLISH, NEW IMMIGRANTS, AND STUDENTS WHO DO NOT CONSIDER THEMSELVES SCIENCE-ORIENTED TO EXPERIENCE PLACE AND COMMUNITY-BASED AUTHENTIC DATA AND PERFORM THEIR OWN RESEARCH ON A CHARISMATIC SPECIES. THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED BY THE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS (ITEST) PROGRAM, WHICH SUPPORTS PROJECTS THAT BUILD UNDERSTANDINGS OF PRACTICES, PROGRAM ELEMENTS, CONTEXTS AND PROCESSES CONTRIBUTING TO INCREASING STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE AND INTEREST IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) CAREERS. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO EXPLORE HOW DATA SCIENCE AND AI, COMBINED WITH THE SCIENTIFIC NARRATIVE OF A NONFICTION BOOK ABOUT PUFFINS, ENHANCES MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS? LEARNING ABOUT AN ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM. THE PROJECT ADDRESSES THREE RESEARCH QUESTIONS: 1) HOW DO STUDENTS USE DATA TOOLS TO MAKE SENSE OF LARGE ECOLOGICAL DATASETS?; 2) HOW DO STUDENTS ORGANIZE AND USE DATA GATHERED FROM WEBCAMS, SUCH AS IMAGES OF PUFFINS ENGAGED IN VARIOUS BEHAVIORS OR THE SOUNDS PUFFINS MAKE, AND HOW DO THEY USE AI TO EXTEND THEIR OBSERVATIONS?; AND 3) WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF USING DATA TOOLS, COMBINED WITH A NONFICTION BOOK, ON STUDENTS? LEARNING ABOUT PUFFIN ECOLOGY AND ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS MORE GENERALLY? THE PROJECT WILL USE A DESIGN-BASED RESEARCH APPROACH IN WHICH SEVERAL MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS CO-DESIGN A THREE-WEEK CURRICULUM MODULE IN CONJUNCTION WITH PROJECT STAFF. THESE TEACHERS WILL ALSO PROVIDE INPUT TO THE RESEARCH PLAN, WHICH IS BASED ON CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS AS WELL AS CASE STUDIES OF A SMALL NUMBER OF STUDENTS FROM EACH OF SEVEN CLASSROOMS. THE CASE STUDY RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE A DEEPER ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS? UNDERSTANDING OF PUFFIN DATA, AND WILL INVOLVE THE COLLECTION OF STUDENT WORK AS WELL AS INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS IN WHICH STUDENTS WILL BE ASKED TO EXPLAIN THEIR FINDINGS. IN ADDITION, WE WILL COLLECT SURVEY DATA FROM ALL 500 STUDENTS WHO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROJECT TO DETERMINE HOW THEIR OVERALL STEM INTEREST, ENGAGEMENT, CAREER KNOWLEDGE, AND INTEREST IN DATA SCIENCE AND ECOLOGY HAVE BEEN IMPACTED. PROJECT DELIVERABLES INCLUDE THE PUFFIN CURRICULUM MODULE AND A MODIFIED VERSION OF AN AUDUBON DATASET ABOUT PUFFINS THAT WILL BE MADE FREELY AVAILABLE FOR ALL EDUCATORS. WE WILL PUBLISH THE PROJECT?S FINDINGS FOR RESEARCHERS, EDUCATORS, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. TEACHER WORKSHOPS, INCLUDING ONE FOCUSED ON ATTRACTING UNDER-REPRESENTED STUDENTS TO DATA SCIENCE, WILL BE PRESENTED TO NATIONAL AUDIENCES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.