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1. Countering underproduction of peer produced goods

   https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241248139  

   Champion, Kaylea; Hill, Benjamin_Mako (May 2024, New Media & Society)

   Peer produced goods, such as online knowledge bases and free/libre open source software rely on contributors who often choose their tasks regardless of consumer needs. These goods are susceptible to underproduction: when popular goods are relatively low quality. Although underproduction is a common feature of peer production, very little is known about how to counteract it. We use a detailed longitudinal dataset from English Wikipedia to show that more experienced contributors—including those who contribute without an account—tend to contribute to underproduced goods. A within-person analysis shows that contributors’ efforts shift toward underproduced goods over time. These findings illustrate the value of retaining contributors in peer production, including those contributing without accounts, as a means to counter underproduction. 

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2. Factors Mediating Learning and Application of Computational Modeling by Life Scientists

   https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2018.8659328  

   Madamanchi, Aasakiran; Cardella, Monica E.; Glazier, James A.; Umulis, David M. (October 2018, 2018 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE))

   This Work-in-Progress paper in the Research Category uses a retrospective mixed-methods study to better understand the factors that mediate learning of computational modeling by life scientists. Key stakeholders, including leading scientists, universities and funding agencies, have promoted computational modeling to enable life sciences research and improve the translation of genetic and molecular biology high- throughput data into clinical results. Software platforms to facilitate computational modeling by biologists who lack advanced mathematical or programming skills have had some success, but none has achieved widespread use among life scientists. Because computational modeling is a core engineering skill of value to other STEM fields, it is critical for engineering and computer science educators to consider how we help students from across STEM disciplines learn computational modeling. Currently we lack sufficient research on how best to help life scientists learn computational modeling. To address this gap, in 2017, we observed a short-format summer course designed for life scientists to learn computational modeling. The course used a simulation environment designed to lower programming barriers. We used semi-structured interviews to understand students' experiences while taking the course and in applying computational modeling after the course. We conducted interviews with graduate students and post- doctoral researchers who had completed the course. We also interviewed students who took the course between 2010 and 2013. Among these past attendees, we selected equal numbers of interview subjects who had and had not successfully published journal articles that incorporated computational modeling. This Work-in-Progress paper applies social cognitive theory to analyze the motivations of life scientists who seek training in computational modeling and their attitudes towards computational modeling. Additionally, we identify important social and environmental variables that influence successful application of computational modeling after course completion. The findings from this study may therefore help us educate biomedical and biological engineering students more effectively. Although this study focuses on life scientists, its findings can inform engineering and computer science education more broadly. Insights from this study may be especially useful in aiding incoming engineering and computer science students who do not have advanced mathematical or programming skills and in preparing undergraduate engineering students for collaborative work with life scientists. 

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3. The Contribution of Bilingualism to Cognitive Functioning and Regional Brain Volume in Normal and Abnormal Aging

   https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728921000705  

   Torres, Valeria L.; Rosselli, Mónica; Loewenstein, David A.; Lang, Merike; Vélez-Uribe, Idaly; Arruda, Fernanda; Conniff, Joshua; Curiel, Rosie E.; Greig, Maria T.; Barker, Warren W.; et al (March 2022, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition)

   Abstract We examined the association between bilingualism, executive function (EF), and brain volume in older monolinguals and bilinguals who spoke English, Spanish, or both, and were cognitively normal (CN) or diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or dementia. Gray matter volume (GMV) was higher in language and EF brain regions among bilinguals, but no differences were found in memory regions. Neuropsychological performance did not vary across language groups over time; however, bilinguals exhibited reduced Stroop interference and lower scores on Digit Span Backwards and category fluency. Higher scores on Digit Span Backwards were associated with a younger age of English acquisition, and a greater degree of balanced bilingualism was associated with lower scores in category fluency. The initial age of cognitive decline did not differ between language groups. The influence of bilingualism appears to be reflected in increased GMV in language and EF regions, and to a lesser degree, in EF. 

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4. The social embeddedness of peer production: A comparative qualitative analysis of three Indian language Wikipedia editions

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3501832  

   Khatri, Sejal; Shaw, Aaron; Dasgupta, Sayamindu; Hill, Benjamin Mako (April 2022, CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’22))

   Why do some peer production projects do a better job at engaging potential contributors than others? We address this question by comparing three Indian language Wikipedias, namely, Malayalam, Marathi, and Kannada. We found that although the three projects share goals, technological infrastructure, and a similar set of challenges, Malayalam Wikipedia’s community engages language speakers in contributing at a much higher rate than the others. Drawing from a grounded theory analysis of interviews with 18 community participants from the three projects, we found that experience with participatory governance and free/open-source software in the Malayalam community supported high engagement of contributors. Counterintuitively, we found that financial resources intended to increase participation in the Marathi and Kannada communities hindered the growth of these communities. Our findings underscore the importance of social and cultural context in the trajectories of peer production communities. 

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5. ATTITUDES TOWARD PROGRAMMING FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN UNDERGRADUATE TECHNOLOGYCOURSES THAT USE PAIR PROGRAMMING: A MATCHED SAMPLES APPROACH

   Watson, S.; Li, L.; Pribesh, S.; Xu, L. (March 2022, The International Conference on Education and New Developments)

   Carmo, M. (Ed.)

   To succeed in the 21stcentury, students need to acquire skills that are critical to the workforce such as collaboration, social skills, and technology literacy (World Economic Forum, 2016). Individuals with disabilities (D) must develop the same skills as their peers without disabilities. Unfortunately, college students with disabilities often find computing courses frustrating and are more vulnerable to lower academic self-concept, academic challenges, and disability stigma (Kim & Kutscher, 2021). Although computing disciplines often provide good job opportunities, Students with D who enrolled in computing courses are especially at risk of falling behind and dropping out of introductory programming courses (Richman et al., 2014). To address the problem, we examined the use of pair programming, a collaborative approach to programming, as a pedagogic method to improve students with disabilities’ attitudes toward programming in undergraduate computer courses. There is a need to study effective instructional approaches that can facilitate learning and improve the outcomes of students with D. 

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