Collaborative Research: Characterizing and empowering student success when traversing the academic help landscape

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This IUSE Computer Science Level 2 Engaged Student Learning project aims to serve the national interest by studying the complex help resource landscape available to students in computing courses and how students traverse this landscape. Increasing enrollments in computing courses have resulted in a low instructor-to-student ratio, especially for introductory computing courses, which often include non-computing majors who need to learn fundamental computing skills. In large courses, students are more likely to interact with teaching assistants rather than the instructor. Modern computing courses have a high cognitive load and require the students to use various complex tools. To succeed in computing courses, students must be independent, highly self-regulated learners who can navigate multiple help resources. This project will advance the understanding of the help-seeking landscape and how students from different backgrounds seek help in computing courses.The project goals are to 1) characterize the help resource landscape available in computing courses; 2) understand students’ behaviors and usage of help resources; and 3) evaluate an intervention to improve students’ understanding and usage of help resources to empower them with valuable self-regulated learning skills to increase their learning. The project will use a quantitative approach to describe the current help resource landscape in computing courses. Interviews with students will clarify their help-seeking patterns and their perceived learning effectiveness. The project will create best practices for help resources and equitable computing course design, including an intervention to 1) explicitly teach students about the help resource landscape, 2) guide them to identify what help they need, and 3) empower them to consciously utilize the landscape and their self-identified help needs to be more effective in their help-seeking. The NSF IUSE:EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.