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1. An MS in CS for non-CS Majors: Moving to Increase Diversity of Thought and Demographics in CS

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366802  

   Brodley, Carla; Barry, Megan; Connell, Aidan; Gill, Catherine; Gorton, Ian; Hescott, Benjamin; Lackaye, Bryan; LuBien, Cynthia; Razzaq, Leena; Shesh, Amit; et al (February 2020, PSIGCSE '20: Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education)

   We have created, piloted and are growing the Align program, a Master of Science in Computer Science (MS in CS) for post-secondary graduates who did not major in CS. Our goal is to create a pathway to CS for all students, with particular attention to women and underrepresented minorities. Indeed, women represent 57% and underrepresented minorities represent 25% of all bachelor's recipients in the U.S., but only 19.5% and 12.6% of CS graduates, respectively. If we can fill this opportunity gap, we will satisfy a major economic need and address an issue of social equity and inclusion. In this paper, we present our "Bridge'' curriculum, which is a two-semester preparation for students to then join the traditional MS in CS students in master's-level classes. We describe co-curricular activities designed to help students succeed in the program. We present our empirical findings around enrollment, demographics, retention and job outcomes. Among our findings is that Align students outperform our traditional MS in CS students in grade point average. To date we have graduated 137 students and 827 are enrolled. 

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2. Gender and Racial Disparities in College Admissions and Computing Programs: The Future of Black Women in the Face of Widespread Anti-DEI Legislation

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3653666.3656087  

   Lee, Celeste; Warner, Jayce R; Garvin, Megean; McCann, Cameron; Zarch, Rebecca; Brown, Bailey A; Goldwasser, Talia (May 2024, ACM)

   This study aims to examine the current experiences of high school students in computer science (CS) courses and the factors that motivated them to continue their future enrollment. The participants were 603 high school students in grades 9 through 12 in Indiana, all of whom enrolled in at least one CS course during the 2020-2021 academic year. This research revealed that fun and meaningful CS pedagogy, knowledgeable CS teachers, and relevance to their lives and future careers enabled high school students to hold positive experiences in their CS classes. These experiences impacted students to take additional CS courses. In addition to these positive experiences, gender and early exposure to CS emerge as predictors to pursue CS courses. The findings will carry significance for policymakers and educators offering insights to enhance and broaden students’ participation and engagement in the CS course. 

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3. Supporting Undergraduate STEMM Education: Perspectives from Faculty Mentors and Learning Assistants in Calculus II

   https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11030143  

   Hite, Rebecca; Johnson, Levi; Velasco, Richard Carlos; Williams, G. Brock; Griffith, Ken (March 2021, Education Sciences)

   In higher education, Learning Assistants (LAs)—a relatively recent evolution grounded in peer mentorship models—are gaining popularity in classrooms as universities strive to meet the needs of undergraduate learners. Unlike Teaching Assistants, LAs are undergraduate students who receive continuous training from faculty mentors in content-area coaching and pedagogical skills. As near-peers, they assist assigned groups of undergraduates (students) during class. Research on LAs suggests that they are significant in mitigating high Drop-Fail-Withdrawal rates of large enrollment undergraduate science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical (STEMM) courses. However, there is a dearth of description regarding the learning between LAs and STEMM faculty mentors. This paper reports on perspectives of faculty mentors and their cooperating LAs in regard to their learning relationships during a Calculus II at a research-oriented university during Spring of 2020. Using an exploratory-descriptive qualitative design, faculty (oral responses) and LAs (written responses) reflected on their relationship. Content analysis (coding) resulted in four salient categories (by faculty and LA percentages, respectively) in: Showing Care and Fostering Relationships (47%, 23%); Honing Pedagogical Skills (27%, 36%); Being Prepared for Class and Students (23%, 28%); and Developing Content Knowledge in Calculus (3%, 13%). Benefits of LAs to faculty and ways to commence LA programs at institutions are also discussed. 

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4. Taking the Next Course: Barriers and Facilitators Reported by Computer Science Majors

   Amari N. Lewis; Mia Minnes; Kristen Vaccaro; Joe Gibbs Politz (June 2023, 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   This research paper studies barriers to students continuing in undergraduate computing programs. On the journey to a computing profession, every course has the potential to be an off-ramp away from students’ goals. Every student who leaves a computing degree has a last class they took before not continuing, and a reason they didn’t continue. Based on qualitative analysis of open-ended questions in surveys of students in eight undergraduate computer science and engineering (CSE) courses, we identify common barriers students anticipate, and learn what encourages them to persist onto the next CSE course. For example, even for students within the major, a commonly reported barrier was the perceived inability to enroll in their next computing course due to unclear enrollment systems and requirements. We disaggregate the data by three demographic categories—race/ethnicity, gender, and admissions-type—to understand potential disparate impacts of CSE majors at our large, research- intensive university. Solutions to the reported barriers faced by students may include student-focused interventions, policy and programmatic changes at the department level, and broader institutional or external support. Keywords: 5.b.vii. Computer science, 10.f. Retention, 3. Diversity 

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5. Comparing Access and Participation Outcomes of Schools Engaged in a Multi-school CS and Cybersecurity Intervention (Evaluation)

   McGill, M. (January 2022, ASEE annual conference proceedings)

   In early 2020, a cohort of 30 high schools engaged in a year-long intervention designed to increase their ability to offer Computer Science (CS) and Cybersecurity education to their students. After we performed an evaluation on the intervention’s impacts, we turned our attention to whether or not the outcomes were influenced by engagement of the schools in the cohort. In this research paper, we focus on the guiding research question: How do schools’ engagement in an intervention designed to build equitable CS and Cybersecurity education capacity impact schools’ course offerings and students’ participation in these courses? To measure equitable impact, we evaluated changes to actual CS and Cybersecurity course offerings and enrollment at the schools. We focused on the differences in participation across student gender and race/ethnicity as well as participation levels at the different schools across three years prior to the intervention and one year after the intervention. Findings indicate that, despite the disruption to schools from the COVID-19 pandemic, schools engaged in the program had very significant increases in AP CSP, AP CS A, and Cybersecurity course offerings and enrollment, particularly at schools that serve students from low-income families. 

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