{"id":75579,"date":"2025-09-03T10:48:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T17:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=75579"},"modified":"2025-09-03T10:48:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T17:48:32","slug":"data-science-corps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/data-science-corps\/","title":{"rendered":"How NAU researchers are preparing Arizona kids for data-centered careers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to a new grant-funded project at NAU, young people in Arizona could soon become more fluent in data science, boosting their future career prospects and bringing more prosperity to the Grand Canyon State.<\/span><\/p>\n

NAU Department of Mathematics and Statistics faculty members <\/span>Jeffrey Hovermill<\/span><\/b>, <\/span>Jaechoul Lee<\/span><\/b> and<\/span> Ye Chen <\/span><\/b>received $1.1 million from the National Science Foundation<\/span><\/a> to build the Arizona Data Science Corps (AZDSC), a joint effort between the university and the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). The AZDSC will create pathways that help sixth- to 12th-grade teachers and K-12 and undergraduate students gain fluency in gathering, organizing and analyzing data and communicating results\u2014crucial skills for today\u2019s students and tomorrow\u2019s working Arizonans.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what field you\u2019re in, you\u2019ll probably spend some time using data to answer a question,\u201d said Hovermill, an associate professor of mathematics and statistics education. \u201cIn order to do that, you have to know how to gather data, make sense of the data and communicate the findings in order to achieve some broader goal. We aim to prepare students to engage in these important 21st-century skills so they\u2019re prepared for 21st-century careers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Data scientists are in ever-growing demand across Arizona and the United States. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently more than 200,000 filled and vacant data science positions in the U.S., and data science job opportunities are projected to increase by 33% in the next decade. In Arizona, semiconductor manufacturers like Intel and TSMC, healthcare companies like Banner Health, insurance firms and financial advisers are among the employers that count on data scientists to advance their goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

To meet that growing demand, the AZDSC will create three different pathways that will strengthen the data science skills of 200 middle and high school teachers throughout the state:\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n