Increasing Diversity and Engagement in Undergraduate Computing with Enhanced Collaborative Learning

尽管做出了许多努力和投资，但女性和少数族裔在计算机学科和职业中的代表性仍然不足。这项试点研究将调查女性和少数族裔在计算机领域面临的严重和长期存在的问题。这种不平衡引起了全国的关注，因为它导致了计算机专业人员的短缺，而不是可用工作的数量。该项目的重点是提高学生在本科计算机入门课程中的参与度和多样性，将整合协作学习活动和以多样性为重点的教学策略，最终提高计算机的多样性。入门课程至关重要，因为它们是进入计算机专业、辅修专业和专业的门户。此外，在计算思维和解决问题方面教育具有科学素养的大众的计算课程的可用性正在稳步增加，因此这个项目的影响比仅仅一个介绍性的计算课程更广泛。仅在弗吉尼亚大学，这个项目就将惠及2000多名学生。通过提高学生的参与度，研究结果和发现将在三个方面做出贡献：(1)改善未来计算机专业人员的教与学，(2)促进女性和代表性不足的少数群体对计算机课程的参与和坚持，以及(3)为在整个计算机课程中制定和实施协作学习策略奠定基础。该项目以先前资助的两个NSF奖项的知识成果为基础，将采用以多样性为重点的教学策略，以提高学生对本科计算机入门课程的参与度。本研究从探索学生对计算机课程的认知和需求开始。认识到学生的需求，预先设计的以多样性为重点的教学和协作学习活动将被迭代地定制，以支持多个学期的课堂教学和学习实践。为了理解以多样性为中心的协作学习活动与学生参与计算之间的关系，将使用混合方法研究设计方法来回答具体的研究问题。定量和定性研究方法将用于加深对学习环境的理解。研究结果将产生关于如何改进本科计算机课程教学的新知识，并最终将导致对如何在整个计算机课程中扩展实践的新理解。为了最大限度地发挥影响，将广泛传播以多样性为重点的增强合作教学策略，并利用开放的数字资源和社会网络，如全民计算机科学和国家妇女与信息技术中心，促进其方法和内容的采用。

Despite many efforts and investments, women and minorities continue to be underrepresented in computing disciplines and occupations. This pilot study will examine the serious and long-standing problems that face female and under-represented minorities in computing fields. The imbalance is of national concern as it contributes to the deficit of computing professionals in contrast to the number of available jobs. With a focus on increasing student engagement and diversity in undergraduate introductory computing courses, this project will integrate collaborative learning activities and diversity-focused instructional strategies to ultimately improve diversity in computing. Introductory courses are critical as they are the gateway into computing majors, minors, and concentrations. Further, the availability of computing courses to educate a scientifically literate populace in computational thinking and problem solving is steadily increasing, so the impacts of this project are broader than just one introductory computing course. At the University of Virginia alone, this project will be deployed to reach more than 2000 students. By improving student engagement, study results and findings will contribute in three ways: (1) improving the teaching and learning of future computing professionals, (2) promoting the participation and persistence of females and under-represented minorities in computing courses, and (3) establishing a basis for the development and implementation of collaborative learning strategies throughout a computing curriculum. Building on the knowledge gains from two previously funded NSF awards, this project will adapt diversity-focused instructional strategies to enhance students' engagement in undergraduate introductory computing courses. The study begins with an exploration of students' perceptions and needs in computing courses. Recognizing students' needs, the pre-designed diversity-focused instruction and collaborative learning activities will be iteratively tailored to support classroom teaching and learning practice over a duration of multiple semesters. To understand the relationship between diversity-focused collaborative learning activities and student engagement in computing, a mixed methods research design approach will be used to answer specific research questions. Quantitative and qualitative research methods will be used for deepening understanding of the learning environments. Research findings will generate new knowledge about ways to improve instruction for undergraduate computing courses and ultimately will lead to new understanding of how to extend the practices across the computing curriculum. To maximize impact, the diversity-focused enhanced collaborative instructional strategies will be widely disseminated, and the adoption of its methods and content will be promoted using open digital resources and social networks, such as Computer Science for All and the National Center for Women & Information Technology.