BPC-DP: Inclusive longitudinal peer mentoring for community building and retention

为了支持其规模，许多大型计算程序都包含了大量的同行辅导组件。作为同行导师，本科生是课程的教职员工，在系文化中发挥着重要作用。一种新的同伴指导模式正在设计中，以增加学生的归属感和包容性，特别是在女性、黑人和拉丁裔学生中--这些身份在计算机中没有得到充分的体现。新的模式是以根据身份和兴趣形成的学生群体为中心的。这些队列由新的首席同伴导师职位的学生领导，为他们队列中的学生提供情景和纵向支持。这个项目的一个主要衡量标准是留住该专业的学生，特别是来自历史上离开计算机科学课程的学生比例高得不成比例的学生。该计划的设计可在其他具有类似目标的机构中重复，目标是扩大在计算和相关领域的参与。一些研究支持这种干预，研究表明，近距离同行榜样可能会增加保留率和归属感，特别是在代表性不足的群体中。首先，收集关于学生与当前辅导计划互动的方式的数据，按学生身份分类，目的是了解这对留存有什么积极和消极影响。其次，在项目的后续阶段，与学生一起开展焦点小组，以更多地了解项目的成功策略，以及学生的社区意识和归属感是如何发展的。这些调查塑造了基于身份的队列和纵向指导的设计。接受指导的群体贯穿第一年的整个经历，第二年的数据有助于了解对保留以及社区意识和包容性的影响。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。

To support their scale, many large computing programs incorporate extensive peer tutoring components. As peer tutors, undergraduate students serve as course staff and play a significant role in department culture. A new model for peer mentoring is being designed to increase the sense of belonging and inclusion broadly among students, and especially among women, Black, and Latinx students – identities underrepresented in computing. The new model is centered around cohorts of students formed based on their identities and interests. The cohorts are led by students in a new lead peer mentor position, providing contextualized and longitudinal support to the students in their cohort. A primary metric in this project is retention of students within the major, particularly for students from groups that historically left Computer Science programs at disproportionately high rates. The program design is repeatable at other institutions that have similar goals of broadening participation in computing and related fields.Several strands of research support this intervention, situated in research suggesting that near peer role models may increase retention and sense of belonging particularly among underrepresented groups. First, data are gathered about the ways in which students interact with current tutoring programs, disaggregated by student identities, with the goal of understanding what positive and negative impacts this has on retention. Second, focus groups are conducted with students further along in the program to learn more about successful strategies for the program and how students' sense of community and belonging are developed. These investigations shape the design of identity-based cohorts and longitudinal mentoring. Mentored cohorts persist across the entirety of the first year experience, and second-year data informs understanding of impacts on retention and on sense of community and inclusion.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.