The project is a collaborative effort involving Rowan University, Bucknell University, and Tennessee State University that is vertically integrating conceptual knowledge and laboratory experiences in biometrics across the curriculum. Vertical integration refers to a series of laboratory exercises in a given topical area that start as well-structured experiments at the lower levels and proceed to increasingly complex, open-ended design projects at upper levels of the curriculum. The investigators intend to create a national model by developing multi-year curricular material that allows course content in separate classes to be naturally interconnected. The project is providing educational experiences that are training future system designers prepared to deal with the complexity, implementation, and performance evaluation of a variety of biometric methods (face, speech, iris, signature, and fingerprint). Students are also gaining a better knowledge of policy, ethical, and societal impact issues of biometrics. The team is disseminating their material and results through web postings on the project's websites and on the Connexions website (http://cnx.org/), through technical and educational conferences and journal articles, and through a faculty workshop. The project includes outreach to a local community college and to K-12 school teachers. Both internal and external evaluators are using pre- and post survey-data and the results of rubric-based scores on student work with experimental and comparison groups to monitor progress toward project goals. Broader impacts include the broad dissemination, the community college and K-12 outreach, and the focus on the social aspects of the technology.
