NSF Award
2318422
With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project aims to improve teaching practices that will positively impact undergraduate education in STEM disciplines for students from underrepresented groups in computer science with a focus on improving retention among members of the Latinx college population. This project proposes to: 1) update and expand computer science teaching practices by providing comprehensive faculty development to improve instructors’ capacity to academically, socially, and emotionally support computer science students; and 2) increase retention and graduation rates for Latinx undergraduate students pursuing a degree in computer science through co-curricular relationship-building activities designed to cultivate their sense of welcome, belonging, and well-being in the computer science discipline. With already high and growing Latinx enrollment at UNLV, the proposed improvements are imperative to boost the retention and graduation rates for Latinx undergraduate students, especially those pursuing a degree in computer science.<br/><br/>This project seeks to improve computer science teaching and learning by applying Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TiLT) techniques informed by critical multicultural education and supported by open educational resources (OER). These teaching techniques: 1) focus on making it obvious to students how and why they are engaging with course content in particular ways; and 2) have been shown to improve overall student learning outcomes, particularly for first generation students in many academic majors including non-STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). After participating in a comprehensive faculty development institute, course instructors will apply computer science-related, critical multicultural education-informed, and OER-supported TiLT techniques to their courses and co-curricular activities. Through mixed methods survey research with students, and qualitative individual and focus group interview research with students, course instructors, and course coordinators, research team members will assess the impact of application on Latinx computer science students’ learning. Research findings will be disseminated through the project website, conference presentations, and publications. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs are supported by this program.<br/><br/>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.
