STEM Campus Computation Center: Support, Enrichment & Computing Identity Development to Boost STEM Success (White Paper Routing Number: 23-000004948)
Abstract
Creating a well-trained and diverse computing workforce is a persistent challenge in the United States. We identify two primary causes for this deficit: 1) gaining advanced proficiency in computer programming is a challenge; and 2) computing education suffers from the prominence of traditional, narrow, computing identities, which do not allow space for many students from marginalized groups. To address this complex combination of subject mastery and identity issues, we seek to develop a novel mechanism for cross-campus student support and enrichment in computing. In the past, universities faced similar challenges in supporting the development of students# writing abilities and writing identities; as a result, they created the now heavily researched concept of a campus-level writing center, a tested and efficient format for skill remediation, development, and enrichment at the post-secondary level. Moreover, emerging literature is finding congruence between coding literacy and writing literacy, suggesting synergies between peer-assisted writing and computing support and enrichment. The issue of STEM identity is rarely framed as a barrier to national security but has serious implications for the Department of Defense (DoD) given the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the military workforce, and of the Department of the Navy (DON) in particular. We propose to create the University of Maryland (UMD) Campus Computation Center (C3) as a generalizable approach for transforming the student experience and increasing the number and diversity of graduates entering the computing workforce. C3 will cultivate computing skills and identity with an integrated suite of services including: 1)a peer-assisted computing model drawing on existing peer-assisted writing models; 2) a #Maker Movement# approach to a series of computing short courses, intended to help students explore different computing identities; and 3) a welcoming, #third-place# environment. C3 will give us the opportunity to: 1) bolster the academic success of hundreds of students each year: 2) help many students rethink their feelings about their places in computing; 3) create a new generation of diverse peer leaders in computing; and 4) increasethe diversity of students graduating with computing skills. C3 will also reach students from area community colleges, which will help establish a diverse computing pipeline in the state of Maryland. The creation of C3 will also directly address the #NavLab STEM problem,# defined as an #ongoing and worsening difficulty# in replacing STEM personnel in the DON Laboratory system.Approved for public release
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 15, 2024
- Source ID
- N000142412161
Entities
People
- Katherine Izsak
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Maryland