Scaffolding NSF CISE REU Site Evaluation Through Comparative and Longitudinal Tracking

计算研究协会将审查由CEISE理事会资助的本科生研究体验(REU)网站，以评估其有效性，特别是针对计算能力不足的人口群体的学生。在建立多元化的国内人才库方面，计算领域正面临挑战。为解决这一问题采取了各种干预措施。通过参与研究体验为本科生创造机会，让他们投身于自己的研究领域，这是培养学生兴趣并留住他们所在领域的方法之一。这些研究经验也有利于留住在计算领域代表性不足的人口统计群体的学生。通过本次评估，本项目的成果将有助于改善本科生的研究体验，增强其影响力。此外，从扩大研究和报告范围中收集到的见解将为STEM教育提供国家认可的资源，向全国社区通报计算机多样性和包容性方面的长期趋势和有效做法。通过向计算机界通报这些以证据为基础的最佳做法，并注意对计算机界代表性不足的学生群体(如妇女、有色人种学生等)的成功特别有影响的做法，项目成果将有助于加强参与REU的影响，从而在科学和工程领域培养更强大和更多样化的国内人才库。REU评估项目(REP)旨在评估CEISE REU计划对参与者的影响，并为未来REU计划的可持续和可扩展评估建立基础设施。这位代表将建立在现有的NSF资助的项目-CESE REU工具包的基础上，该项目自2009年以来一直在评估CESE REUS。REP的独特贡献在于它能够利用其他特定于计算的数据收集工作，从而提供对CEISE REU计划的更高级别和更大规模的比较分析。为了评估REUS，该项目将从参与NSF CISE REUS的学生那里收集调查数据，并从REU PIs收集特定地点的信息。这项评价将结合事后和比较的方法，从多个角度审视区域联盟参与的影响。评估的结果将通过年度报告与REU现场绩效指标和NSF计划官员共享。该项目还将在项目组运营的另一个国家级项目--CRA数据伙伴调查的基础上建立一个数据收集和评估基础设施。这种大规模进行这类评价的基础设施将能够持续监测未来REUS的成功。每年通过这一基础设施收集系统数据将使调查人员能够跟踪REU参与者在其职业生涯中的进步。在更高的层面上，通过这个项目产生的结果将有助于我们理解本科生研究项目如何支持学生的学术和研究职业发展。此外，该项目的重点是了解REU项目的哪些方面鼓励在计算机领域被认为代表性不足的学生群体(例如，女性、有色人种学生等)取得成功。贡献知识和基于证据的最佳实践，支持计算社区扩大计算参与的努力。该奖项反映了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 Computing Research Association will examine the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites funded by the CISE Directorate to evaluate their effectiveness, particularly for students from demographic groups that underrepresented in computing. The field of computing is facing challenges in terms of building a diverse domestic talent pool. Various interventions are implemented to address this issue. Creating opportunities for undergraduate students to engage with their field of study through participation in research experiences is one of the ways for building students’ interest and retaining them in their field. These research experiences are also beneficial for retaining students from demographic groups that are underrepresented in computing. Through this evaluation, the results of this project will help to improve the undergraduate research experiences and enhance their impact. Further, the insights gleaned from the increased scope of research and reporting will provide a nationally recognized resource for STEM education that informs the national community about long term trends and effective practices for diversity and inclusion in computing. By informing the computing community about these evidence-based best practices, with attention given to practices that are especially impactful for the success of underrepresented student groups within computing (e.g., women, students of color, etc.), the project outcomes will help enhance the impact of REU participation, resulting in a stronger and more diverse pool of domestic talent in the field of science and engineering. The REU Evaluation Project (REP) is intended to assess the impact of CISE REU programs on the participants and establish an infrastructure for the sustainable and scalable evaluation of REU programs going forward. The REP will build on an existing NSF-funded project, CISE REU Toolkit, that has been evaluating CISE REUs since 2009. The unique contribution of REP is its ability to harness other data collection efforts specific to computing that will provide a higher-level and larger-scale comparative analysis of the CISE REU program. For evaluating the REUs, the project will collect survey data from the students participating in NSF CISE REUs and site-specific information from the REU PIs. This evaluation will be combining pre-post and comparative methods to provide a multi-dimensional look into the impact of REU participation. The results from the evaluation will be shared with the REU site PIs and NSF Program Officers through annual reports. This project will also establish a data collection and evaluation infrastructure based on another national level project, CRA Data Buddies Survey, run by the project team. Such an infrastructure to conduct this type of evaluation at scale will enable sustainable monitoring of the success of REUs going forward. Collecting systematic data through this infrastructure annually will enable the investigators to track REU participants as they progress in their career. At a higher level, results generated through this project will contribute to our understanding of how undergraduate research programs support students’ academic and research career development. Additionally, this project’s focus on understanding what aspects of REU programs encourage the success of student groups considered underrepresented in computing (e.g., women, students of color, etc.) contributes knowledge and evidence-based best practices that support the computing community’s efforts to broaden participation in computing.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.