BPC-DP: Inclusive longitudinal peer mentoring for community building and retention

为了支持它们的规模，许多大型计算程序包含了广泛的同伴辅导组件。作为同侪导师，本科生既是课程的教职员，也是系文化的重要组成部分。一种新的同伴指导模式正在被设计出来，以增加学生的归属感和包容性，尤其是女性、黑人和拉丁裔学生——这些群体在计算机领域的代表性不足。新模式以学生群体为中心，根据他们的身份和兴趣组成群体。该小组由新的领导同伴导师职位的学生领导，为其小组中的学生提供情境化和纵向支持。这个项目的一个主要指标是该专业学生的留存率，尤其是那些从计算机科学专业退学的学生。该方案的设计是可重复的，在其他机构有类似的目标，扩大参与计算和相关领域。有几项研究支持这种干预，其中一项研究表明，接近同伴的榜样可能会增加保留率和归属感，尤其是在代表性不足的群体中。首先，收集有关学生与当前辅导计划互动方式的数据，按学生身份分类，目的是了解这对保留率的积极和消极影响。其次，与学生进行焦点小组讨论，以进一步了解项目的成功策略，以及如何培养学生的社区意识和归属感。这些调查塑造了基于身份的队列和纵向指导的设计。在第一年的整个学习过程中，有指导的学生群体一直存在，第二年的数据有助于了解对留用率、社区意识和包容感的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

To support their scale, many large computing programs incorporate extensive peer tutoring components. As peer tutors, undergraduate students serve as course staff and play a significant role in department culture. A new model for peer mentoring is being designed to increase the sense of belonging and inclusion broadly among students, and especially among women, Black, and Latinx students – identities underrepresented in computing. The new model is centered around cohorts of students formed based on their identities and interests. The cohorts are led by students in a new lead peer mentor position, providing contextualized and longitudinal support to the students in their cohort. A primary metric in this project is retention of students within the major, particularly for students from groups that historically left Computer Science programs at disproportionately high rates. The program design is repeatable at other institutions that have similar goals of broadening participation in computing and related fields.Several strands of research support this intervention, situated in research suggesting that near peer role models may increase retention and sense of belonging particularly among underrepresented groups. First, data are gathered about the ways in which students interact with current tutoring programs, disaggregated by student identities, with the goal of understanding what positive and negative impacts this has on retention. Second, focus groups are conducted with students further along in the program to learn more about successful strategies for the program and how students' sense of community and belonging are developed. These investigations shape the design of identity-based cohorts and longitudinal mentoring. Mentored cohorts persist across the entirety of the first year experience, and second-year data informs understanding of impacts on retention and on sense of community and inclusion.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.