DIFUSE is a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project (NSF IUSE-1917002) at Dartmouth College aimed at creating opportunities for undergraduates to learn and use data science in introductory STEM courses and beyond. We work with undergraduates, PhD students, and faculty to develop data science "modules” to integrate into course curriculum. We define modules as assignments, or a series of exercises, that use principles of data science to teach a concept relevant to the course. We also provide opportunites to undergraduate and PhD students to apply data science and data visualization through internships and work in the DALI Lab. The aim of the DIFUSE project is to help integrate data science modules into introductory STEM and social science curricula at Dartmouth College.
To evaluate the impact of the modules and our work, we have developed a Survey of Attitudes towards Data Science and host data and other research materials related to the project.
You can contact the DIFUSE team at difuse@dartmouth.edu. If you find a problem with one of the repositories, click the "report a problem" button.
This set of repositories consists of more than a dozen modules that introduce some aspect(s) of data science into different introductory courses in STEM and the social sciences. The broad aim of all the modules is to stimulate interest in data science in students and to expose them to how data science can be used in different fields.
- Find below a list of all the DIFUSE data science modules.
- Each module is stored in a separate repository with more information on its components and use.
- Access a repository by clicking on its Module Name
- or download now by clicking on its Download Link
| Repository Name | Subject | Description | Download Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| anthropology-behavior-sampling | Anthropology | Quantifies behavior using focal bout and instantaneous scan sampling in Excel |  |
| anthropology-footprint-collect-analyze | Anthropology | Uses footprint data to make inferences about historical societies | |
| astronomy-celestial-bodies | Astronomy | Explores visualization and interpretation of observatory data in Google Colab (Python) | |
| biology-remote-sensing | Biology | Explores the relationships between land use, deer population, and lyme cases in four U.S. states in Google Colab | |
| earth-science-environmental-change | Earth Science | Examines solar data with Excel to measure environmental change | |
| ecology-eddy-covariance | Ecology | Explores the eddy covariance method | |
| engineering-airline-analysis | Electrical Engineering | Uses statistics and supervised machine learning to inform airline decision making in MATLAB | |
| wind-speed-power-analysis | Energy & Environmental Engineering | Examines the wind power equations and other considerations for siting a wind farm in Google Colab (Python) | |
| engineering-analyze-first-order-systems | Mechanical Engineering | Models first order systems in MATLAB with footage of a small, motorized cart | |
| engineering-visualize-air-quality | Environmental Engineering | Examines air quality data in Germany using R-studio “openair” package | |
| engineering-glucose-model-ode | Engineering | Models the glucose insulin system with ordinary differential equations in MATLAB | |
| engineering-statistics-in-R | Engineering | Explores statistics in R | |
| covid-wave-environmental-map-regression | Environmental Studies | Examines the racial, environmental, and economic influences on covid-19 mortality in Louisiana | |
| geography-extreme-climate-events | Geography | Examines data on climate extremes in a warming planet with Python Numpy and pandas | |
| sociology-health-outcomes | Sociology | Examines the effect of different factors on self-rated health in Texas counties in Google Colab (Python) | |
When you open a link to a repository you will see something like the image below, which comes from a template we use for all of our module repositories. At the top you'll see a directory with subfolders and files. But the most important thing is the "README" file that is shown below.
This README contains a more complete summary of the module, identifying the instructor and the course it was originally designed for. Other images included are the creative commons license, a download link, and module badge. Finally, the README describes the module's objectives, expectations from students, and a class schedule with links to specific module components.
The module badge on the splash image is a visual representation of the contents and scope of the module. It highlights
- the type of computational tools used in the module (e.g. Excel, Python, R, MATLAB, Google tools), and
- the data science content the module covers
You can contact the DIFUSE team at difuse@dartmouth.edu.
Petra is a professor of engineering and associate dean for diversity and inclusion at Dartmouth College. She teaches Introduction to Scientific Computing and Embedded Systems in the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth. Her research interests include complex analysis, geometric function theory, discrete groups, complex dynamics, and mathematics of medical imaging.
Lorie is the faculty director of DALI Lab and director of the Digital Arts Program (MS and Undergraduate) at Dartmouth College. Her work is about creating well-designed technology tools that change the way people think and behave. Her research focuses on effective methods for presenting and visualizing information in order to get people’s attention, communicate effectively, and change behavior. The DALI Lab is an innovation and leadership "garage" where students from all over campus come together in small teams to work on big problems.
Scott is a professor in the department of mathematics and Director of the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL). Professor Pauls' research in mathematics focuses on building and analyzing network models for social, biological, and physical systems. In his theoretical work, he aims to find network theoretic signatures for outcomes of dynamical processes. Recently, he has been able to apply these techniques to systems in political science, economics, neuroscience, and environmental science.
Laura is a professor of engineering and senior associate dean of faculty development at Dartmouth College. She teaches Introduction to Control Theory, Mechatronics, and Responsible & Ethical Conduct of Research in the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth. Her research interests include system dynamics and controls, robotics, signal processing, and machine intelligence.
Merve is a research associate in the mathematics department and works at DIFUSE project as a post-doc. She received a Ph.D. degree in Mathematics Education with a minor in Measurement and Quantitative Methods. Her research focuses on the experiences and cognition of teachers and instructors who engage historically marginalized students in mathematics classes, as well as the mechanisms that impact students' STEM retention and success in STEM fields. She has spent much of her career in all aspects of K-16 mathematics and STEM education.
| Name | Class Year | Project(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Garret Andreine | 2022 | conversation-sentiment-analysis* |
| Sabrina Barton | 2024 | anthropology-behavior-sampling |
| Elisabeth Baumann | 2022 | earth-science-environmental-change, geography-extreme-climate-events |
| Andrew Bean | 2023 | engineering-visualize-air-quality, biology-remote-sensing, astro-imaging |
| James Busch | GR | astronomy-celestial-bodies, covid-wave-environmental-map-regression* |
| Sonal Butala | 2022 | DALI |
| William Chen | 2022 | covid-wave-environmental-map-regression* |
| Jackeline Corona | 2022 | engineering-glucose-model-ode |
| Pierre Desvallons | 2021 | conversation-sentiment-analysis*, ecology-eddy-covariance |
| Joseph Gyorda | 2022, GR | Workshop, Deployment, engineering-airline-analysis |
| Carrie Harris | GR | astro-imaging |
| Vivek Hazari | 2022 | conversation-sentiment-analysis*, differential-equations* |
| Taylor Hickey | 2023 | Project Manager |
| Luis Hinojosa | 2024 | wind-speed-power-analysis, Deployment |
| Pepper Huang | GR | conversation-sentiment-analysis* |
| Osman Khan | 2021 | sociology-health-outcomes, ecology-eddy-covariance, Data Visualization Fellow |
| May Oo Khine | 2023 | Workshop, biology-remote-sensing |
| Sarah Korb | 2022 | engineering-statistics-in-R |
| Katherine Lasonde | 2023 | sociology-health-outcomes |
| Sarah Lee | GR | earth-science-environmental-change, geography-extreme-climate-events |
| Benjamin Levesque | 2024 | engineering-airline-analysis, Github, Project Manager |
| Kyra McLaughlin | 2023 | sociology-health-outcomes |
| Phillip Mulford | GR | engineering-analyze-first-order-systems |
| Quang Nguyen | GR | ecology-eddy-covariance |
| Emma Nguyen | 2025 | biology-remote-sensing, Workshop |
| Clement Nyanhango | GR | differential-equations*, astronomy-celestial-bodies |
| Ayobami Ogunmolasuyi | GR | conversation-sentiment-analysis* |
| Muna Onuoha | 2025 | wind-speed-power-analysis, Github |
| Alexander Robertson | 2023 | engineering-statistics-in-R |
| Monika Roznere | GR | engineering-visualize-air-quality, anthropology-footprint-collect-analyze |
| Logan Sankey | 2020 | anthropology-footprint-collect-analyze, anthropology-behavior-sampling, engineering-glucose-model-ode, engineering-analyze-first-order-systems |
| Garrett Scott | 2022 | astronomy-celestial-bodies |
| William Toth | 2023 | conversation-sentiment-analysis* |
| Tiffany Yu | 2021 | Project Manager |
-* This module is not available on GitHub at this time
| Name | Institution | Project(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Betul Bilgin | University of Illinois at Chicago | Adaptation of existing module |
| Chao Wang | Arizona State University | EEE 350 |
| David Guerra | St. Anselm College | Bio-Satellite |
| Jay Garaycochea | Goucher College | Bio-Satellite |
| Fernando Soto | Penn State University | EGEE 438 |
| Tanushree Roy | Texas Tech University | System Modeling |