Bridging the Gap from a Non-Computer Science Bachelors to the Masters in Computer Science

缩小从非计算机科学学士学位到计算机科学硕士学位的差距

• 批准号: 1643843
• 负责人: Leena Razzaq
• 金额: $ 99.78万
• 依托单位: Northeastern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-03-01 至 2022-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1643843&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Bridging; Gap; Non; Computer; Science

A diverse, highly skilled, and well-educated computing workforce is imperative for securing our nation's future economic success and addressing societal challenges in areas ranging from efficient and effective health care, environmental protection, technological innovation, and national security. A lack of diversity in the group of students studying computing limits both the number of qualified computing graduates and the breadth of perspective and experience necessary to build robust development teams. Students with an interest in computing but undergraduate degrees in other fields represent a substantial pool of talented candidates with the potential to develop into computing professionals. This project at Northeastern University will provide scholarships for 64 highly qualified students with demonstrated financial need who do not have a background in computer science to support their entry into a Masters program in this important field. Students will be recruited from non-traditional sources including women's colleges and minority-serving institutions and will be provided with extensive support to facilitate their entry into computer science. Support infrastructure will include a new scholar's retreat, a first-year seminar, technical support, faculty and peer mentoring, leadership development and service learning opportunities. Students will also participate in Northeastern's co-op program, in which they are placed in internships in industry where they will both earn money and access a pathway to career placement. Research on the different elements of the program will indicate which activities are the strongest factors leading to persistence in computer science education and ultimately to employment in the computer science workforce.The program involves a two-semester intensive bridge program, followed by a Masters in Computer Science curriculum. In addition to scholarships, the project will develop, implement, and evaluate research-based interventions intentionally designed to address the particular challenges of students from underrepresented groups preparing for and pursuing graduate study in computer science. The objective of the program is to adapt a previously successful program (the ALIGN Scholars Program) to serve a group of students that is more diverse in gender, race, and educational and economic background than past students, supporting them as they move into a traditional Masters degree program. Support infrastructure will include a new scholar retreat, first year seminar, technical support group, faculty and peer mentoring, and leadership development and service learning opportunities. In addition, all students spend six to eight months working in industry through Northeastern University's highly successful co-op program. Co-ops will provide a strategic pathway to career placements. This project will advance the state of knowledge about how to increase opportunities for success of students from groups traditionally underrepresented in computing through the design, implementation, and evaluation of a cohort-based graduate program in computer science designed for students with undergraduate degrees in other fields. Specifically, this program will: 1) Implement a cohort program to enable students with undergraduate degrees outside computing to earn graduate degrees in computer science, with an emphasis on increasing the participation and success of women, African American, Native American and Latino/Latina students, first generation college students, and veterans; 2) Evaluate the effectiveness of elements of the model using both formative and summative evaluation methods; 3) Broadly disseminate the model so that it may be adopted at other universities with similar goals.

一支多元化、高技能和受过良好教育的计算劳动力对于确保我们国家未来的经济成功和应对从高效和有效的医疗保健、环境保护、技术创新和国家安全等领域的社会挑战至关重要。学习计算的学生群体缺乏多样性，这既限制了合格的计算毕业生的数量，也限制了建立强大的开发团队所需的视角和经验的广度。对计算机感兴趣的学生，但拥有其他领域的本科学位的学生，代表着一大批有潜力发展为计算机专业人员的人才。东北大学的这个项目将为高素质的学生提供奖学金，这些学生没有计算机科学背景，但有明显的经济需求，以支持他们进入这个重要领域的硕士课程。将从非传统来源招收学生，包括女子学院和为少数群体服务的机构，并将为他们进入计算机科学领域提供广泛支持。支持基础设施将包括新学者静修、第一年研讨会、技术支持、教师和同行指导、领导力发展和服务学习机会。学生还将参加东北大学的合作项目，在该项目中，他们被安排在行业实习，在那里他们既可以赚钱，又可以获得职业安置的途径。对该计划不同要素的研究将表明哪些活动是导致坚持计算机科学教育并最终在计算机科学工作者中就业的最强有力的因素。该计划包括两个学期的强化桥接计划，然后是计算机科学硕士课程。除了奖学金，该项目还将开发、实施和评估基于研究的干预措施，旨在应对来自代表性不足群体的学生准备和攻读计算机科学研究生课程的特殊挑战。该计划的目标是调整一个以前成功的计划(Align学者计划)，以服务于一群在性别、种族、教育和经济背景方面比过去的学生更多样化的学生，支持他们进入传统的硕士学位课程。支持基础设施将包括新学者静修、第一年研讨会、技术支持小组、教职员工和同行指导，以及领导力发展和服务学习机会。此外，通过东北大学非常成功的合作项目，所有学生都要在工业界工作六到八个月。合作社将为职业安置提供一条战略途径。这个项目将促进关于如何通过设计、实施和评估基于队列的计算机科学研究生课程来增加来自传统上在计算领域代表不足的群体的学生的成功机会的知识状况，该课程是为拥有其他领域本科学位的学生设计的。具体地说，该计划将：1)实施一项队列计划，使拥有计算机专业本科学位的学生能够获得计算机科学研究生学位，重点是增加女性、非裔美国人、原住民和拉丁裔/拉丁裔学生、第一代大学生和退伍军人的参与和成功；2)使用形成性和终结性评估方法评估该模型元素的有效性；3)广泛传播该模型，以便它可以在其他具有类似目标的大学中采用。

项目成果

An MS in CS for non-CS Majors: Moving to Increase Diversity of Thought and Demographics in CS

非计算机科学专业的计算机科学硕士学位：提高计算机科学思想和人口统计的多样性

• DOI: 10.1145/3328778.3366802
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: PSIGCSE '20: Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
• 作者: Brodley, Carla;Barry, Megan;Connell, Aidan;Gill, Catherine;Gorton, Ian;Hescott, Benjamin;Lackaye, Bryan;LuBien, Cynthia;Razzaq, Leena;Shesh, Amit
• 通讯作者: Shesh, Amit