Abstract
Two-year colleges are poised to play a substantial and possibly transformative role in data science and undergraduate data science education. Current two-year college data science programs provide affordable and rigorous certificate and degree experiences that instill data acumen in students who do not seek or do not fit within the traditional four-year college paradigm. Additional two-year college data science certificate and degree programs are certain to develop as conversations continue with four-year colleges regarding matters of transferability, student achievement, and program evolution. Developing a two-year college data science program is not an easy task, but deep discussions of postsecondary data science education will be incomplete if they fail to consider the opportunities that two-year colleges provide. Two-year college data science educators will therefore need to continue to be active participants in the discussions of both the field and its educational practices going forward. In addition to supporting students in their data science programs with a comprehensive approach respectful of both student diversity and local needs, two-year colleges may also have an opportunityâor even an obligationâto effectively instill principles of general data literacy in their broader undergraduate populations. Additional resources, continued professional development, and effective leadership will be required. These ideas are discussed both generally and within the framework of one two-year college program.
Highlights
Two-year colleges are poised to play a substantial and possibly transformative role in data science and undergraduate data science education
Given the balance of flexibility and rigor that two-year colleges can provide to their students, two-year college data science programs are poised to play a vital role in addressing the calls for both a more data literate workforce and more data literate transferees to four-year college undergraduate programs
As Laura Haas, Co-Chair of the Committee on Envisioning the Data Science Discipline: The Undergraduate Perspective, pointed out in her remarks in the Harvard Data Science Review (HDSR), "We found that many different forms of data science education and multiple pathways will help students from a variety of backgrounds— educational and demographic—to succeed at levels ranging from basic to expert" (Haas et al, 2019)
Summary
In June of 2019, when the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM) Roundtable on Data Science Postsecondary Education hosted their 11th meeting, they devoted the entirety of their agenda to data science at two-year colleges. As expertise in skills is only one component of data science, many two-year colleges have developed programs within their other distinct educational path—a path of credit-bearing, college-level classes such as those that transfer to four-year colleges and universities or are required for an Associate of Arts or Associate of Sciences degree. Montgomery College’s Data Science Certificate program, which launched in Fall 2017, resides in this path. In this credit-bearing model, two-year colleges provide undergraduate curricula to students who do not seek a traditional four-year college experience. In order for the data science education community to reach and to support these students, two-year colleges will need to play an even larger role in the discussions of data science education going forward
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