With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 projects aims to increase the retention and completion rates of students majoring in computer science (CS) and information technology (IT). This project at Kean University will develop a model for CS and IT education by providing curriculum support for critical early transition points in the majors, along with innovative faculty development to improve undergraduate CS and IT teaching and learning success and improve degree completion rates. Student interventions, including cohort community development, supplemental instruction and undergraduate research groups, will be uniquely coupled with faculty training in growth mindset, hypothesized as culminating in collective impact for increased student retention, superior career preparation, and persistence to graduation. Outcomes from this project will include contributions to educational pedagogy in computer science, faculty development methods, and identification of early intervention techniques for improving student academic success, leading to a larger, more diverse community of graduates.
The project seeks to prepare students from diverse populations to enter the STEM workforce or graduate school as highly trained individuals, with training experiences in teamwork and research. The project will assess the impact of reinforcement for students, including those who have met the minimum expectation for progression in the major and those who may have a higher probability of not thriving in the major. To address consistencies in student experiences and course content, the project will revise the first three courses in the computer science sequence. Materials from the Computing Alliance for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI, an NSF INCLUDES Alliance) and Google on thinking, problem solving, and algorithmic thinking will be integrated into the revised computer science courses. The project will also develop engagement materials, provide supplemental instruction, advisement and career building activities to aid students as they progress through critical transitions in the computer science curriculum. For incoming first-year students, the project will develop an orientation to provide CS and IT majors familiarity with the curriculum and the faculty. The project will investigate the impact of the project activities on the retention in the CS and IT majors, as well as student academic performance. Research methods will employ qualitative and quantitative data collection from students and faculty, including climate data surveys. Collected data will be analyzed to determine how participation in cohort communities, pre-professional career activities, and research groups changes students' computing identity perceptions, interest, persistence and growth in the discipline. The results from this project seek to provide evidence-based activities that other institutions may adopt on effective strategies on how to effectively enhance student success in the CS and IT majors, and in particular, for underrepresented students. The project will disseminate its findings through academic venues including the CAHSI and the NSF INCLUDES National Network. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HIS program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
