School of Data Science Professor Honored with Teaching Award 

Data science professor Nada Basit has received an All-University Teaching Award for her meaningful contributions in the classroom. 

Basit — who holds a joint appointment with the School of Data Science and the Department of Computer Science — teaches everything from introductory programming to machine learning, and her classes range in size from 10 students to 500. She brings a dynamic approach to her courses.

“I strive to teach topics as interactively as possible,” she told UVA Today.

That philosophy led her to design an educational tool that helps students learn about SQL injection attacks, a form of malicious hacking. The tool teaches students to mitigate such attacks and allows them to experiment in a safe, controlled environment. Basit aims to share it with other departments at UVA and other institutions. 

A colleague who has team-taught with Basit said that she “always provided informative resources to allow her students to gain a better understanding of the material.” Students praised the applicability of what they learned in her classes. “[Her] course material is useful in real life,” one student noted. 

Basit was also recognized for her teaching in 2019, when she received the Hartfield Excellence in Teaching Award from the Jefferson Scholars Foundation.
 
Candidates for the All-University Teaching Awards are identified through an extensive nomination process and selected by a representative committee. Basit was honored at a reception with other award recipients last week.