BPC-DP: PeerSIST: Peer Support for IS Transfers

PeerSIST项目的目标是开发、实施和评估一个创新的、可访问的和包容性的计算机领域的转学学生同伴指导计划。这一目标有助于促进计算机教育中有利于转让的组织结构和做法。转校生，在马里兰大学巴尔的摩县分校(UMBC)信息系统(IS)系的背景下，是指在两年制院校(如社区学院)开始接受高等教育，然后转到四年制院校完成学士学位的学生。该项目还包括专业“转学”，即从另一个专业(通常是计算机科学)转到IS专业的第二次“转学”学生。本课程将获得有关结构化同伴辅导对学生的学业自我认知、专业归属感和留校意向的影响，以及教师对转学学生需求意识的变化的新知识。评估将得到一个新的数据分析框架的协助，该框架已整合到学习管理系统中。这一探索有望增加计算机专业学生的成就率和留存率，尤其是代表性不足的学生。该项目还旨在建立教职员工之间的学科合作，对支持转学学生感兴趣。PeerSIST导师计划将在其他机构扩展和适应，旨在产生广泛的全国影响。该项目将通过建立学生之间互惠互利的关系和知识交流的结构，利用一所中等规模的公立少数族裔服务研究型大学(即UMBC)的本科生转学同龄人的社会资本。在整个学年的关键时刻，由一名同伴导师和两名学员伙伴组成的导师团队将参与各种计划活动，重点放在三个关键主题上：学术成功、社区建设和职业发展。PeerSIST计划将被评估其在增加专业参与度和归属感方面的有效性，以及它如何提高教职员工对IS系转移学生知识的意识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已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。

The objective of the PeerSIST Project is to develop, implement and evaluate an innovative, accessible, and inclusive transfer student peer mentoring program in computing. This objective contributes to the promotion of transfer-friendly organizational structures and practices in computing education. Transfer students, in the context of the Information Systems (IS) Department at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), are students who began their higher education at a 2-year institution (e.g. a community college) and have transferred their enrollment to a 4-year institution to complete their bachelors degree. This project also includes major “transfers”, i.e. transfer students who have made a second “transfer” to the IS major from another major (often computer science). New knowledge will be gained about the impact of structured peer mentoring on students’ academic self-perceptions, sense of belonging in the major, and intention to remain in the major, as well as changes in faculty members’ awareness of transfer student needs. Assessment will be assisted by a novel data analytics framework, integrated into the learning management system. This exploration is expected to increase the success and retention of students, particularly underrepresented students, in computing majors. The project is also designed to establish disciplinary collaborations between faculty and staff interested in supporting transfer students. The PeerSIST mentoring program will be expandable and adaptable at other institutions, aiming for widespread national impact. The project will leverage the social capital of undergraduate transfer student peers at one mid-sized public, minority serving, research university (i.e. UMBC) by establishing structures for mutually beneficial relationships and knowledge exchange among students. At critical points throughout the academic year, mentoring teams comprising one Peer Mentor matched with two Mentee Buddies, will engage in various program activities that will focus on three key themes: academic success, community building, and professional development. The PeerSIST program will be assessed and evaluated for its effectiveness in increasing engagement and sense of belonging in the major, as well as how it results in increased faculty awareness of transfer student knowledge in the IS department.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.