Scaffolding NSF CISE REU Site Evaluation Through Comparative and Longitudinal Tracking

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The Computing Research Association will examine the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites funded by the CISE Directorate to evaluate their effectiveness, particularly for students from demographic groups that underrepresented in computing. The field of computing is facing challenges in terms of building a diverse domestic talent pool. Various interventions are implemented to address this issue. Creating opportunities for undergraduate students to engage with their field of study through participation in research experiences is one of the ways for building students’ interest and retaining them in their field. These research experiences are also beneficial for retaining students from demographic groups that are underrepresented in computing. Through this evaluation, the results of this project will help to improve the undergraduate research experiences and enhance their impact. Further, the insights gleaned from the increased scope of research and reporting will provide a nationally recognized resource for STEM education that informs the national community about long term trends and effective practices for diversity and inclusion in computing. By informing the computing community about these evidence-based best practices, with attention given to practices that are especially impactful for the success of underrepresented student groups within computing (e.g., women, students of color, etc.), the project outcomes will help enhance the impact of REU participation, resulting in a stronger and more diverse pool of domestic talent in the field of science and engineering. The REU Evaluation Project (REP) is intended to assess the impact of CISE REU programs on the participants and establish an infrastructure for the sustainable and scalable evaluation of REU programs going forward. The REP will build on an existing NSF-funded project, CISE REU Toolkit, that has been evaluating CISE REUs since 2009. The unique contribution of REP is its ability to harness other data collection efforts specific to computing that will provide a higher-level and larger-scale comparative analysis of the CISE REU program. For evaluating the REUs, the project will collect survey data from the students participating in NSF CISE REUs and site-specific information from the REU PIs. This evaluation will be combining pre-post and comparative methods to provide a multi-dimensional look into the impact of REU participation. The results from the evaluation will be shared with the REU site PIs and NSF Program Officers through annual reports. This project will also establish a data collection and evaluation infrastructure based on another national level project, CRA Data Buddies Survey, run by the project team. Such an infrastructure to conduct this type of evaluation at scale will enable sustainable monitoring of the success of REUs going forward. Collecting systematic data through this infrastructure annually will enable the investigators to track REU participants as they progress in their career. At a higher level, results generated through this project will contribute to our understanding of how undergraduate research programs support students’ academic and research career development. Additionally, this project’s focus on understanding what aspects of REU programs encourage the success of student groups considered underrepresented in computing (e.g., women, students of color, etc.) contributes knowledge and evidence-based best practices that support the computing community’s efforts to broaden participation in computing.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.