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，包容性的转学学生在计算方面的同伴指导计划。这一目标有助于促进计算机教育中有利于转移的组织结构和做法。转学生，在信息系统（IS）部门的背景下，在马里兰州巴尔的摩县（UMBC）的大学，是谁开始他们的高等教育在2年制院校（如社区学院），并已转移到4年制院校完成学士学位的学生。该项目还包括主要的“转移”，即转学学生谁作出了第二次“转移”到信息系统专业从另一个主要（通常是计算机科学）。将获得新的知识，结构化的同伴指导对学生的学术自我认知的影响，在专业的归属感，并打算留在专业，以及教师的转移学生的需求意识的变化。评估将得到一个新的数据分析框架的协助，该框架将纳入学习管理系统。这种探索预计将增加学生的成功和保留，特别是代表性不足的学生，在计算专业。该项目还旨在建立有兴趣支持转学生的教师和工作人员之间的学科合作。PeerSIST指导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利关系和知识交流的结构，利用一所中等规模的公立、少数民族服务、研究型大学（即UMBC）的本科转学生同龄人的社会资本。在整个学年的关键时刻，由一名同伴导师与两名学员伙伴组成的辅导团队将参与各种计划活动，这些活动将侧重于三个关键主题：学术成功，社区建设和专业发展。PeerSIST计划将被评估和评价其在提高参与度和归属感的主要，以及它如何导致提高教师的意识转移学生的知识在IS部门的有效性。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

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.