Towards Big Steps Enabled by Big Data Science

Two workshops on big data in education were organized. The first workshop, held in January, focused on case studies of effective partnerships outside of education between big data producers and consumers (see below for the agenda and slides). The second workshop held in early June and focused on case studies of big data usage in education, building on insights from the first. Chris Dede from Harvard University was the intellectual lead for this effort.

These workshops were collectively designed to accomplish the following objectives.

1. To build capacity at NSF and in the field for effectively generating and using big data in education, particularly in higher education

2. To articulate the conditions for success for effective usage of big data (infrastructures; analytic methods; access, security, privacy issues; data scientists, research agendas)

3. To study models of effective partnerships between sources of big data and its consumers (researchers, practitioners, policymakers)

4. To publish a volume that describes insights from the workshops for the field, including the strengths and evolution of current work, as well as a research agenda and investment strategies.

Workshop 2: Advancing Data-Intensive Research in Education

Waterview Conference Center, 1919 North Lynn St., Arlington, VA, 22209

Workshop Report    Participant List    Day 1 and Day 2 of #CRADATA

 

Sunday, May 31, 2015

5:30-7:00 Opening reception at Le Meridian Hotel, Arlington

Monday, June 1, 2015

7:30-8:30 Breakfast
8:30-8:50 Welcome from Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Assistant Director, Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR)
8:50-9:00 Purposes and Processes of the Workshop
Susan Singer, Division Director, Division of Undergraduate Education (EHR/DUE)
Chris Dede, Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies, Harvard University
9:00-10:00 NSF’s Role in Advancing Data Science
Susan Singer (DUE); Taylor Martin, Program Officer, Division of Research on Learning (EHR/DRL); Gül Kremer, Program Officer, Division of Undergraduate Education (EHR/DUE); Elizabeth Burrows, NSF AAAS Fellow, Division of Mathematical Sciences (MPS/DMS)
10:00-10:15 Break
10:15-11:15 Predictive Models based on Behavioral Patterns in Higher Education
Ellen Wagner (PAR Framework); David Yaskin (Hobsons)
Chair: Chris Dede, Harvard
11:15-12:30 Dialogue on Privacy, Security, and Ethics
Elizabeth Buchanan (U.W. Stout); Ari Gesher (Palantir); Patricia Hammer (PK Legal); Una May O’Reilly(MIT)
Chair: Anthony E. Kelly (Office of the Assistant Director, EHR/OAD)
12:30-1:30 Working Lunch
(“birds of a feather” groups to discuss analytics, infrastructure, data sharing, data standards/interoperability, privacy/security/ethics, producer/consumer relationships, building human capacity, visualization…)
1:30-2:45 Integrating Data Repositories
Ken Koedinger (LearnLab Datashop); Rick Gilmore (Databrary); Edith Gummer (Kauffman Foundation)
Chair: Gül Kremer, Program Officer DUE
2:45-3:00 Break
3:00-4:15 MOOCs
Diana Oblinger (EDUCAUSE); Piotr Mitros (edX); Andrew Ho (Harvard)
Chair: John Cherniavsky, Senior Advisor, EHR
4:15-5:15 Plenary Discussion – Synthesis of the Day

Dinner on your own – please form groups around topics of interest.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

7:30-8:30 Breakfast
8:30-8:45 Summary of yesterday; framing of today
8:45-10:00 Games and simulations for training, informal post-secondary learning
Matthew Berland (UW); Eric Klopfer (MIT); Valerie Shute (Florida State)
Chair
: Dexter Fletcher (IDA)
10:00-10:15 Break
10:30-12:00 Breakout GroupsNew forms of teaching and learning based on data-rich environments, visualization, and analytics
Moderator: Susan Singer

Infrastructure
Moderator: Taylor Martin

Producer/consumer relationships and partnerships
Moderator: Chris DedeBuilding human capacity
Moderators: Earnestine Easter, Program Officer, Division of Graduate Education (EHR/DGE) and Michelle Dunn, Senior Advisor for Data Science Training, Diversity, and Outreach (NIH)
12:00-1:00 Working Lunch – Sharing insights from Breakouts
1:00-2:15 The Way Forward: Integrating Insights
Vijay Kumar (MIT); Jere Confrey (NCSU); George Siemens (UT-Arlington)
Chair:
Chris Dede
2:15-2:30 Funding Opportunities
2:30-3:00 Plenary Discussion: Closing Thoughts and Next Steps
Susan Singer and Chris Dede

Past Workshop

Agenda from the first workshop (slides are hyperlinked in blue if available).

Thursday January 29, 2015

8:30-8:40 Welcome
Dr. Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Assistant Director, Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR)
8:40-9:00 Organizers Describe the Purposes and Processes of the Workshop
Dr. Susan Singer, Division Director, Division of Undergraduate Education (EHR/DUE)Dr. Chris Dede, Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies, Harvard University Graduate School of Education
9:00-9:30 Brief introductions by Presenters and Participants
9:30-11:00 Big Data Project in Earth Sciences
Mr. Viswanath Nandigam, Technical Project Manager, San Diego Super Computing Center Dr. Benjamin Cash, Research Scientist, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA), George Mason University
11:00-11:15 Break
11:15-12:45 Big Data Project in Biology
NSF PO: Dr. Diane Okamuro, Plant Genome Research ProgramDr. Doreen Ware, Computational Biologist, United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service & Adjunct Associate Professor at CSHL. Cold Spring Harbor Lab
12:45-1:45 Working Lunch (“birds of a feather” groups to discuss methods, infrastructure, policies, data standards/interoperability, privacy/security/ethics, producer/consumer relationships, building human capacity in data science…)
2:00-3:30 Big Data Project in Astronomy
Dr. Lucy Fortson, Associate Professor of Physics, University of Minnesota
Dr. Kirk Borne, Professor of Astrophysics and Computational Science, George Mason University
3:30—3:45 Break
3:45-5:15 Big Data Project in CISE/Health IT: From DiabeticLink to SilverLink
Dr. Hsinchun Chen, Ph.D., Regents’ Professor, Thomas R. Brown Chair Professor, Director, Artificial Intelligence Lab, University of Arizona
Dr. Randall A. Brown, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Arizona Health Network
5:15-5:30 Recap of the Day
Dr. Chris Dede, Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies, Harvard University Graduate School of Education
5:30 Reception
Participants are encouraged to arrange informal dinner groups

Friday, January 30, 2015

8:30-8:45 Summary of Yesterday; Framing of TodayDrs. Susan Singer and Chris Dede
8:45-10:15 Big Data Project in Computer Science and Engineering
Dr. Dimitris N. Metaxas, Distinguished Professor in the Division of Computer and Information Sciences at Rutgers University
Dr. Ari Kaufman, Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Computer Science Department, Director of the Center of Visual Computing (CVC), and Chief Scientist of the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) at the State University of New York at Stony Brook
10:15-10:30 Break
10:30-11:30 Breakouts on Cross-cutting Issues

Infrastructure
Moderators: Dr. John Cherniavsky, (EHR/Senior Advisor for Research) & Dr. Amy Walton, PO, Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (CISE/ACI)

Data Sharing
Moderator: Dr. Gül E. Kremer, PO, (EHR/DUE)

Data standards/interoperability
Moderator: Dr. Lee Zia,Deputy Division Director, EHR/DUE

Privacy/security/ethics
Moderator: Dr. Anthony E. Kelly, Senior Advisor, EHR

Building capacity in data sciences
Moderator: Dr. Earnestine Easter, PO, EHR/DGE

Producer/consumer relationships and partnerships
Moderator: Dr. Ari Kaufman

11:30-1:00 Methods and Analytics
Analysis of numerical data: Dr. Finbarr (Barry) Sloane, PO, EHR/DRL
Machine learning, analysis of non-numerical data: Dr. Piotr Mitros, Chief Scientist,edX
1:00-2:00 Working Lunch: Discussion on whats Needed in Research and in Federal Initiatives
2:00-2:30 Synthesis: Advice for Big Data Projects in Education