RCN: Developing a Multi-Institution Research-Practitioner Network to Enhance the Success of Diverse Students in Computer Science and Engineering From High School to the Workforce

该研究协调网络（RCN）的总体目标是通过新的合作，研究和推广来扩大计算机科学和工程领域的参与。美国的工作性质在21世纪世纪发生了迅速的变化。当今，所有就业中越来越多的比例与科技行业有关。尽管国家对科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）专业人才的需求，但STEM毕业生的供应滞后，导致需求和供应之间存在巨大差距。虽然全国各地正在做出许多努力来增加STEM学生的供应，但他们受到两个问题的阻碍。首先，目前的大多数努力都发生在机构和学科的筒仓内，机构或学科之间几乎没有协调，妨碍了集体智慧的综合，并阻碍了各机构复制循证最佳做法。其次，由于机构筒仓，在跨机构过渡时，流失率高，对学生的经验关注不够。该RCN将通过在马萨诸塞州建立多机构合作伙伴关系来解决这两个针对计算机科学（CS）和工程的问题，以连接CS和工程的教师，研究STEM途径的社会科学家，教育支持人员以及雇用和培养CS和工程人才的行业合作伙伴。这个由研究人员、教育工作者和商业领袖组成的协调网络（REBL）可能成为全国其他州的典范。该RCN项目将在马萨诸塞州创建三个相互联系的网络改善社区（Network Improvement Communities，简称REBL），为研究人员和从业人员提供一个合作空间，在三个不同的领域开展平等工作：高中、学院和大学，以及劳动力和工业。NIC的活动将侧重于：（1）综合来自研究，教学，推广和业务的知识，以确定从高中到劳动力的CS和工程途径中的多种障碍，并注意发展过渡;（2）传达基于证据的补救措施，以告知教师和行业合作伙伴做出的决定，影响人们从高中到劳动力的流动;（3）通过将成功的补救措施从一个合作机构复制到其他机构来增加影响力;（4）在研究人员和从业人员之间建立新的合作关系，以解决教育，推广和商业方面的知识差距，因为它们与扩大CS和工程参与有关。该项目的重点是在马萨诸塞州形成网络，将利用马萨诸塞大学系统、五所学院和该项目开发的跨机构关系，在多个机构制定补救措施，扩大影响，并促进多机构团队未来的赠款，以测试新的干预措施。该网络还将通过实习和服务学习，特别关注代表性不足的学生，将大学教育与职业机会联系起来。该RCN由EHR核心研究项目和NSF INCLUDES共同资助，该项目专注于催化STEM企业协同努力实现包容性变革。该奖项反映了NSF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。

The overarching goal of this Research Coordination Network (RCN) is to broaden participation in computer science and engineering fields through new collaborations, research and outreach. The nature of work in the United States has changed rapidly in the 21st century. A growing proportion of all employment today revolves around science and technology industries. Despite the national demand for a workforce with expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the supply of STEM graduates has lagged, resulting in a substantial gap between demand and supply. While many efforts are underway across the nation to increase the supply of STEM students, they are stymied by two problems. First, most current efforts occur within institutional and disciplinary silos, with little coordination across institutions or disciplines, preventing synthesis of collective wisdom and hindering the replication of evidence-based best practices across institutions. Second, because of institutional silos, insufficient attention is given to student experiences at cross-institutional transitions when attrition is high. This RCN will tackle these two problems targeting computer science (CS) and engineering, by developing a multi-institutional partnership in Massachusetts to connect instructors of CS and engineering, social scientists who study STEM pathways, educational support staff, and industry partners who hire and develop talent in CS and engineering. This coordinated network of Researchers, Educators, and Business Leaders (REBL) may become a model for other states across the nation.This RCN project will create three interconnected Network Improvement Communities (NICs) in Massachusetts that will provide a collaboration space for researchers and practitioners to work on equity in three different areas; high school, colleges and universities, and workforce and industry. NIC activities will focus on: (1) synthesizing knowledge from research, teaching, outreach, and business, to identify multiple barriers in CS and engineering pathways from high school to the workforce, with attention to developmental transitions; (2) communicating evidence-based remedies to inform decisions made by instructors and industry partners that influence the flow of people from high school to the workforce; (3) increasing impact by replicating successful remedies from one partner institution to others; and (4) matchmaking new collaborations between researchers and practitioners to tackle knowledge gaps in education, outreach, and business as they relate to broadening CS and engineering participation. Focused on network formation in Massachusetts, the effort will leverage the UMass system, Five Colleges, and cross-institutional relationships developed by this project to enact remedies at multiple institutions that scale impact and catalyze future grants by multi-institutional teams to test new interventions. The network will also bridge college education with career opportunities through internships and service learning with special attention to underrepresented students. This RCN is co-funded by the EHR Core Research program and by NSF INCLUDES, which focuses on catalyzing the STEM enterprise to collaboratively work towards inclusive change.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.