News Update 04-18-2003
CMU West Expands "Learn by Doing" CS Master's Degree
Carnegie Mellon University West (CMU West) said it would expand its "learn-by-doing"
master's degree programs in the computer sciences by adding a two-year track
for college graduates with no prior computer science experience who wish to
pursue a master's. The school's philosophy is based on the work of education
innovator Roger Schank. Instead of attending classes and taking tests, students
work on ongoing projects and are mentored online by faculty. CMU West said its
approach simulates the environment that students will enter after graduation,
preparing them for the real world. Roger Schank, Chief Education Officer, said,
"Our program replaces ineffective traditional teaching methods with continuing
projects that will help prepare students for the real world better than any
passive learning experience can."
For more information visit: http://west.cmu.edu/masters
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McGraw Hill, CMU, Team Up for Econ Online Program
McGraw-Hill/Irwin, which provides business educational materials for the higher
education market, and Carnegie Mellon University have struck a deal to market
online exercises and interactive experiments that help teach economics. Through
the interactive system, students will have the ability to trade in online markets
to learn economic principles. In the program, dubbed Online Experiments in Economics,
the student is both participant and observer. In pilot tests, students have
reported that they learned nearly as much about economic principles from their
experience as a participant as they did from their analysis of the experiment
as an observer. The program is part of the Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative
(OLI), which is seeking to make effective online education widely accessible.
Purdue Names Recipient of Internet Security Fellowship
Internet security provider Symantec Corp. announced the recipient of the Symantec
Fellowship at Purdue University's Center for Education and Research in Information
Assurance and Security (CERIAS). As part of Symantec's University Research Program,
the Fellowship is intended to generate new sources of research for the study
of Internet security issues. Abhilasha Bhargav was awarded the fellowship at
the annual CERIAS Spring Symposium April 8. The fellowship will provide up to
$50,000 to cover full tuition costs for two years and a stipend for a degree-seeking
student enrolled at Purdue and working with CERIAS. Miss Bhargav was one of
35 students who were accepted into the graduate program in Purdue's School of
Computer Science, out of more than 500 students who applied. She received a
bachelor's degree in computer science in December 2002 from Purdue University,
and will conduct her graduate research at CERIAS.
Golden Gate U. Offers Digital Security Graduate Degree
Golden Gate University said it would offer the San Francisco Bay Area's first
graduate degree in digital security. GGU will offer a master's degree and a
graduate certificate in digital security. Courses are offered in class, online
through GGU's CyberCampus, and through the Video Interactive Program in San
Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and Walnut Creek. "Given that the security
services market has nearly doubled since 9/11 and is conservatively expected
to grow by more than 44 percent in the next five years, adding a digital security
skill set to any IT person's portfolio is a good investment," explained Constance
Beutel, Associate Dean of GGU's School of Technology and Information.
For more information, visit www.ggu.edu
Awards, Deals, Contracts in Higher Education
SUPERCOMPUTING—Northeastern University signed a service agreement
with Lynx Therapeutics Inc. to perform a biology experiment using Lynx's Massively
Parallel Signature Sequencing (MPSS) technology. Under the agreement, Lynx will
receive payments for the genomics discovery services it performs on samples
provided by Northeastern's Department of Biology and Marine Science Center.
The experiment is to study the regulation of gene expression in Antarctic icefish.
MPSS analysis of the icefish kidney should provide gene expression profiles
that should help the potential discovery of genes involved in red and white
blood cell development. The research may lead to new treatments and diagnostic
probes for anemia, neutropenia, and leukemia.
