Using Degree Experience Plans to Improve Engagement, Retention, and Diversity of Undergraduates in Computer Science

美国劳工统计局预测，未来十年，计算机科学及相关产业的增长速度将超过其他任何领域。不幸的是，据预测，美国的大学将无法满足这一需求。一个问题是留存：进入大学时打算主修计算机等STEM领域的学生中，完成学位的不到40%。另一个问题是多样性：在计算机科学领域，已经很低的女性比例和代表性不足的少数族裔实际上正在减少。因此，计算机科学领域一直无法吸引大量潜在的计算机科学家来满足日益增长的需求。这个项目将评估一种新的方法来提高本科生计算机科学专业的参与度、保留率和多样性。该方法有两个组成部分：一个称为“学位体验计划”的概念性框架，以及一个用于开发和管理这些计划的开源软件系统。学位体验计划给予课程(课程)和课外活动(例如，以纪律为导向的活动；活动；俱乐部)同等的地位。为了让课外活动与课程活动平起平坐，学位体验计划取代了学生的平均绩点，将其作为衡量成功的单一指标，改为评估学生在创新、能力和经验方面的发展的三项指标。每个学生的学位体验计划还包括他们的学科兴趣和职业目标的代表，这有助于他们评估潜在的课程和课外活动的相关性。尽管该项目侧重于计算机科学教育，但该方法可以支持其他STEM学科在留住和毕业方面的改进。关于提高STEM学科的多样性和留存的研究，以及对个人学习计划和实践社区的研究，指出了更全面地代表本科学位经历的潜在价值。该项目将深入了解有助于或阻碍采用学位体验计划的因素；采用学位体验计划对本科生保留率和多样性的影响；学位体验计划是否会根据人口统计因素对学生产生不同的影响；以及帮助或阻碍其影响机构和社区变革的能力的因素。学位体验计划系统将被整合到夏威夷大学的本科计算机科学学位课程中，为期三年。每学期，将收集定性和定量数据，以支持对其随时间的影响的纵向研究。预计这些数据将有助于评估学位体验计划增加留存和支持社区和机构转型的能力。在该项目的最后一年，该技术将在另外两个本科生项目(夏威夷大学电气工程系；加州大学弗雷斯诺分校计算机科学系)和三个NSF网站(亚利桑那州立大学、特拉华州立大学和蒙特克莱尔大学)进行试验。这些试点将使调查人员能够比较学位体验计划在其他学位项目和其他机构的影响。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that computer science and related industries will grow faster than any other area over the next ten years. Unfortunately, it is also predicted that U.S. universities will not be able to meet this demand. One problem is retention: fewer than 40% of students who enter college with the intention of majoring in a STEM field such as computer science complete their degree. Another problem is diversity: the already low percentage of women and underrepresented minorities in computer science is actually decreasing. Thus, the computer science field has not been able to engage a large sector of potential computer scientists to meet the growing demand. This project will assess a new approach to improving engagement, retention, and diversity in undergraduate computer science majors. The approach has two components: a conceptual framework called "Degree Experience Plans" and an open-source software system for developing and managing these plans. Degree Experience Plans give equal status to curricular (courses) and extracurricular activities (e.g., discipline-oriented events; activities; clubs). To put extracurricular activities on par with curricular activities, Degree Experience Plans replace students' grade point average as the single metric for success with a three-component metric that assesses student development with respect to innovation, competency, and experience. Each student's Degree Experience Plan also includes a representation of their disciplinary interests and career goals, which helps them assess the relevance of potential curricular and extracurricular activities. Although the project focuses on computer science education, the approach could support improvements in retention and graduation in other STEM disciplines.Research on improving diversity and retention in STEM disciplines, as well as research on individual learning plans and communities of practice, point to the potential value of a more holistic representation of the undergraduate degree experience. This project will gain insight into the factors that help or hinder adoption of Degree Experience Plans; the impact of adoption on undergraduate retention and diversity; whether the Degree Experience Plans differentially impact students based on demographic factors; and the factors that help or hinder its ability to effect institutional and community change. The Degree Experience Plan system will be integrated into the undergraduate computer science degree program at the University of Hawaii for all three years of the project period. Each semester, qualitative and quantitative data will be collected to support longitudinal studies of its impact over time. It is expected that these data will enable evaluation of the ability of the Degree Experience Plans to increase retention and to support community and institutional transformation. During the last year of the project, the technology will be piloted at two other undergraduate programs (Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Hawaii; Department of Computer Science at University of California, Fresno) and three NSF INCLUDES sites (Arizona State University, Delaware State University, and Montclair University). These pilots will enable the investigators to compare the impact of Degree Experience Plans in other degree programs and at other institutions.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.