Computer Science Indigenous Community of Learners United to Develop, Excel, and Succeed

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Only one Tribal College in the U.S. has a Computer Science BS program, and other colleges and universities graduate small numbers of indigenous students per year per school in Computer Science. These numbers fall well short of the needs of the at least three million tribal members from 574 Tribal Nations in a society that is increasingly mediated by computing. This project aims to produce Computer Science graduates who have been nurtured and mentored to support Tribal Nation building to greatly enhance the technological capabilities of the Nations. This will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the University of Oklahoma. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 23 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science. The lessons learned during this project will help the University of Oklahoma institutionalize the structures that should form sustainable pathways to Computer Science for indigenous students.The goal of this project is to attract, recruit, retain, and graduate students with an interest in Tribal Nation building and Computer Science at the University of Oklahoma. To accomplish this goal, two cohorts will be recruited under the guidance of an advisory board, composed of individuals from organizations that understand and support Indigenous Education. The advisory board will also help develop a Computer Science program that is culturally competent and has value for indigenous students, their communities, and other students interested in supporting indigenous communities. Tribes and Indian Education Departments will be partners to generate tribal communities’ interest in Computer Science as a discipline and as a means to help with Tribal Nation building. Students in the program will be provided a weekly Study Hall where peer mentors will support their academic achievement, and scholars will be matched with two faculty mentors: one with expertise in Indigenous Education and one in Computer Science, and group academic advising will be employed to support a cohort community. A Student Success Advisory Board of staff and faculty will identify relevant supports and resources needed for the students in the program and will advise on integrating these programs into academic structures. Students in the program will be given professional development opportunities including internships in indigenous communities, service-learning projects to benefit tribal communities, and undergraduate research projects. This project will be evaluated by an Indigenous Education researcher with expertise in indigenous methodologies. Evaluation results and lessons learned will be disseminated through Engineering Education and Indigenous Higher Education conferences and journals. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.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.