Collaborative Research: A Data-Driven Employer-Academia Partnership for Continual Computing Curricular Change

该项目旨在通过改善训练有素的计算机科学专业人员的供应来服务于国家利益，这些专业人员能够满足美国公共和私营部门雇主的需求。该项目旨在建立雇主和学术界之间的国家伙伴关系，以帮助确定和缩小计算毕业生的能力与潜在雇主的期望之间的差距。该项目将对计算机科学教育工作者和从业者进行调查，以开发一个定义潜在雇主期望的能力的模型。然后，项目团队计划在阿拉巴马州的三所高等教育机构-阿拉巴马大学、塔斯卡卢萨大学、塔斯基吉大学和谢尔顿州立社区学院-测试该模型。最后，项目团队打算为各机构开发工具和方法，以便在全国范围内确定和实施基于能力的计算机科学教育方法。该项目计划使用三个相互关联的循证活动，在所涉社区实现变革。首先，一个全国性的机构将让美国教师参与开发基于能力的课程，并听取行业从业者的反馈。其次，一家当地试点机构打算在阿拉巴马州的三所院校中使用基于证据的变革模式，根据学生的能力创建变革性的课程变革。团队中的社会学家和计算机教师将帮助理解、预测和减少来自贫困阿拉巴马州黑带中心边缘社区的计算机毕业生基于能力的就业障碍。关于多样性、公平性和包容性需求的独特视角应该成为其他计算部门的榜样。第三部分将为从业者和学者开发基于能力的调查，以确定和提炼有望推动课程持续变化的具体能力。成果，包括变革进程、国家讲习班和当地进程的经验，将有助于计算机教育界的可转移性。除了为课程提供信息外，该项目还将为教育研究人员提供宝贵的数据，帮助缩小雇主和高等教育之间的差距。最后，由于课程设计的能力方法在计算机和工程学科中相对较新，本项目的经验教训将有可能改变其他STEM学科的课程审查和设计。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持高等教育机构和学科社区转变和改进STEM教育的努力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving the supply of well-prepared computer science professionals capable of addressing the needs of American employers in the public and private sectors. This project intends to build a national partnership between employers and academia to help identify and mitigate gaps between the competencies of computing graduates and the expectations of potential employers. The project will survey computer science educators and practitioners to develop a model that defines the competencies expected by potential employers. The project team then plans to test the model at three institutions of higher education in Alabama – the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Tuskegee University, and Shelton State Community College. Finally, the project team intends to develop tools and methods for institutions to identify and implement competency-based educational approaches for computer science across the nation. The project plans to use three interconnected strands of evidence-based activities to institute transformational change in the involved communities. First, a national strand will engage U.S. faculty in developing competency-based curricula informed by industry practitioner feedback. Second, a local pilot strand intends to create transformative curricular change based on student competencies using an evidence-based change model in the three Alabama institutions. Sociologists and computing faculty on the team will help to understand, predict, and reduce barriers to competency-based employment of computing graduates from marginalized communities in the heart of the impoverished Alabama Black Belt. The unique perspective relative to diversity, equity, and inclusion needs should serve as a model for other computing departments. The third strand will develop competency-based surveys for practitioners and academics to identify and refine specific competencies that are hoped to drive continual curricular change. Outcomes, including the change process, national workshops, and experiences from the local process will help with transferability in the computing education community. In addition to informing curricula, the project will provide valuable data for educational researchers to help close the gap between employers and higher education. Finally, as the competency approach to curricular design is relatively new in computing and engineering disciplines, lessons from this project will have the potential to transform curricular review and design in other STEM disciplines. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.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.