FOUNT Cybertraining Poster

The FOUNT project is a comprehensive research initiative aimed at transforming data-centric education through scaffolded, hands-on learning experiences. Funded by the National Science Foundation (Award No. 2230077), this collaborative effort involves researchers from several prestigious universities, including the University of Chicago, UC San Diego, NYU, Northern Illinois University, and Stony Brook University.The research is motivated by the rapid advancements in data-related fields and the growing need for robust, practical learning experiences. FOUNT recognizes that data engineering and data science are increasingly moving to cloud-based environments, necessitating new technical skills that go beyond traditional textbook learning. The project seeks to address this gap by providing students with access to hardware and tools that mirror real-world data processing environments.At the core of FOUNT's approach is the development of interactive "courselets" - modular learning units that cover a wide range of data system topics including storage, visualization, analysis, and machine learning. These courselets are built using the concept of literate programming, implemented through Jupyter Notebooks. This approach allows students to not only read about theoretical concepts but also engage with them through hands-on exercises and coding tasks.The research emphasizes the importance of making these learning materials modifiable and extendable. This design choice encourages students to explore beyond the given content, fostering a deeper understanding of the subject matter. By centralizing these courselets in a hub connected to open hardware platforms, FOUNT aims to create a comprehensive ecosystem for data-centric education.The project's impact is already evident, with 42 courselets developed, reaching 729 unique views and 230 users. Ten faculty members from six academic institutions are actively contributing to the initiative. Importantly, learners have reported significant improvements in their knowledge and abilities related to the covered topics, with 89% of students preferring the courselet format over traditional online instructional methods.To illustrate the practical application of their approach, the poster presents a case study on an introductory machine learning course. This course utilizes FOUNT courselets to guide students through the process of deploying Kubernetes clusters and running machine learning models on these clusters, providing a tangible