Collaborative Research: Equity of Access to Computer Science: Factors Impacting the Characteristics and Success of Undergraduate CS Majors

该项目旨在通过改善本科计算机科学教育来服务于国家利益。 它将通过完成一项研究来做到这一点，这项研究可以揭示所有学生获得计算机科学教育的潜在系统性限制。 这项研究将检查十年的本科生申请，录取和保留数据从四个机构。 对这些数据的分析将描述不同人口统计学和大学预科的学生如何在整个计算机科学人才管道中存在。这项研究将填补一个重要的研究空白的影响因素，进入和通过计算机科学专业的学生流量。有充分的证据表明，计算机科学专业学生的人口统计学特征高度偏向于男性和女性，并且具有倾斜的种族/民族分布。目前尚不清楚的是，在人才管道的哪个点上，这些不平衡是最大的，以及随着学生在计算机科学本科课程中的进步，它们会在多大程度上发生变化。此外，COVID-19造成的当前教育中断提供了重要而独特的机会，以确定由此产生的教育变化对不同学生群体参与计算机科学的影响（如果有）。代表性不足群体的学生似乎更难获得远程教育，也更难获得这些独特情况所提供的各种教育机会，这些情况与技术知识密切相关。我们有理由担心，这一流行病将进一步将弱势群体与弱势群体分开，使该项目正在研究的代表性不足的群体进一步边缘化，失去进入计算机科学专业并顺利取得进展的机会。计算机科学是一个对国家具有重要战略意义的领域，也是一个培养国内人才可以产生巨大影响的领域。 因此，研究大流行前后参与计算机科学的模式有可能帮助国家满足其对计算机科学及相关领域（如网络安全和人工智能）人才日益增长的需求。这项研究将使用一个大型的，丰富的数据集，从十年的本科申请，招生，并从四个机构的课程水平的数据汇编：洛约拉玛丽蒙特大学，加州州立大学长滩，加州滨江大学，和加州圣地亚哥大学。 对这些纵向数据的分析将有助于了解谁可以访问，谁申请，谁被录取以及谁在计算机科学领域取得成功。使用经典的统计方法和基于现代机器学习的方法来分析大型数据集，该研究旨在了解如何提高所有学生在计算机科学中的包容性。它将对目标焦点小组和访谈的结果进行定性分析，以补充这一大规模的定量分析。 定性分析，再加上定量分析的纵向数据从四个机构不同的学生人口统计和其他特征，将提供更深入的分析访问和成功的计算机科学比以往任何研究。 由此产生的知识扩展有可能为实现所有学生公平获得计算机科学教育奠定基础。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving undergraduate computer science education. It will do so by completing a research study that can reveal potential systemic limitations in access to computer science education by all students. This research study will examine ten-years of undergraduate student application, admissions, and retention data from four institutions. Analysis of these data will describe how students of varying demographics and pre-college preparation are present throughout the computer science talent pipeline. This study will fill an important research gap about factors that affect the flow of students into and through the computer science major. It is well documented that the demographic characteristics of computer science students are highly skewed toward males versus females and have skewed racial/ethnic distributions. What is not yet understood is at what point in the talent pipeline these imbalances are greatest and the degree to which they change as students progress through computer science undergraduate programs. In addition, the current educational disruption caused by COVID-19 provides the important and unique opportunity to determine what effect, if any, the resulting educational changes have had on participation of different groups of students in computer science. Students from underrepresented groups appear to have encountered greater difficulty accessing distance learning and being connected to the full range of educational opportunities presented by these unique circumstances, which are very strongly related to technological know-how. There is legitimate cause for concern that the pandemic will further divide the advantaged from the disadvantaged, further marginalizing the underrepresented groups that the project is studying from opportunities to advance into computer science majors and progress successfully through them. Computer science is an area of critical strategic importance for the nation, and a field in which cultivating domestic talent can have enormous impact. Thus, examining pre- and post- pandemic patterns of participation in computer science have the potential to help the nation meet its growing needs for talent in computer science and related fields, such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. This study will use a large, rich data set compiled from ten years of undergraduate application, admissions, and course-level data from four institutions: Loyola Marymount University, Cal State University Long Beach, the University of California Riverside, and the University of California San Diego. Analysis of these longitudinal data will improve understanding of who has access, who applies, who is admitted, and who succeeds in computer science. Using classical statistical approaches and modern machine learning based approaches to analysis of large data sets, the study seeks to understand how to improve the inclusion of all students in computer science. It will supplement this large-scale quantitative analysis with qualitative analysis of results from targeted focus-groups and interviews. The qualitative analysis, coupled with the quantitative analysis of longitudinal data from four institutions with different student demographics and other characteristics, will provide a deeper analysis of access to and success in computer science than any previous study. The resulting extension of knowledge has the potential to lay the foundation for achieving equitable access to computer science education for all students. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.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.