This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This award provides funding for a new Research Experiences for Undergraduate site focused on open-source software development at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The objective of the REU site is to provide talented undergraduate students genuine research experiences developing and evaluating effective open-source learning systems. The JHAVE open-source algorithm visualization platform, a highly interactive approach to online learning in computer science, is the foundation for the open source explorations. The project recruits students from the 26 institutions in the University of Wisconsin system, with a focus on recruitment of women. Each year 8 students receive 9 weeks of intensive training in the research areas, support from peer and faculty mentors, and professional development opportunities. This award is co-funded by the Office of Cyberinfrastructure.
The intellectual merit of this project lies in the potential contributions to the field of open-source software development and learning systems. The project has an excellent faculty leadership team that has an outstanding track record in the development of algorithm visualization systems and their effective use within computing education. The topics are current and of interest to both students and the research community at large and well suited to undergraduate exploration.
The broader impacts of the project include providing a quality research experience to undergraduate students, particularly women and students from underrepresented groups. The participating faculty members are committed to including under-represented minority students in their research. Thus this project has the potential to produce new computer science graduate students and faculty members and to advance discovery and understanding while promoting learning.
