Using High Impact Practices to Broaden Undergraduate Participation in Computer Systems Research

Margaret Ellis; Godmar Back; Crystal Pee; Kirk Cameron; Walter Lee

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: CIT Division Technical Session #3
Page Count: 18
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40475
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/40475
Download Count: 286

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Paper Authors

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Margaret Ellis

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Margaret currently serves as an Associate Professor of Practice of Computer Science in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. She is focused on instructing and designing curriculum for CS2104 Problem Solving in Computer Science and CS2114 Software Design and Data Structures and works with undergraduate research students on the Computer Systems Genome project(https://csgenome.org/). Margaret began teaching at Virginia Tech in 2013 and enjoys integrating her various professional experiences within her courses to provide students with real world perspectives and training in contemporary topics and skills for both research and industry. She is interested in Computer Science Education and approaches to support individuals from underrepresented groups in computing.

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Godmar Back Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Walter Lee Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Dr. Walter C. Lee is an associate professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech, where he also serves as Assistant Director for Research in the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED).

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Kirk Cameron Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Crystal Pee

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Crystal Pee is a doctoral candidate at Virginia Polytechnic and State University pursuing a Ph.D. in Engineering Education, where she also serves as a graduate research assistant. Her research interests include broadening participation in industry and higher education.

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Abstract

The field of computer systems is intimidating to some students, and doing research in this area can be even more so. While others may have looked at pedagogy in other areas of CS, the specific challenges related to computer systems research have not been addressed much. Yet the problem is real and acute -- single digit participation from women, negligible numbers from other underrepresented groups. Thus, focusing on techniques that work well for those traditionally put-off by systems is imperative since systems are ubiquitous in every important aspect of CS today (artificial intelligence, cloud computing, security, etc.). This report describes a large diverse undergraduate research group in computer systems and the results of a study utilizing a conceptual framework, High Impact Practices, to understand how the design of the research group is perceived by students. The research group has expanded access to systems research to a broader group of students, many of whom have continued on in the field. The assessment revealed that students are benefitting from the knowledge acquired and exchanged within the research group. This report is designed to share approaches we have implemented thus far, outcomes, and a reflection on areas for future improvement.

Our research team is designed to broaden participation in computer systems by providing a positive undergraduate research experience. Early CS research experience in an active research group with a focus on community building and support has been shown to yield positive outcomes on students’ perception of, and retention in, Computer Science. Our team provides community building and support specifically within a systems research group. Our strategies create a research team that propagates the recruitment and retention of a diverse set of students in an area of computer science that traditionally lacks such representation of women, black students, and students with disabilities.

For this report, we used High Impact Practices as a framework to guide the assessment of the research team. We found that the design of the research team currently exemplifies 5 of the 8 characteristics of High Impact Practices: significant effort and time by the students, students understanding the relevance of learning, display of competence to a wide audience, facilitated faculty and peer interactions, and comprehensive feedback. The research team drives these research practices with research skills training, training in practical and computing skills, and relationship cultivation. Several of these students have chosen to pursue graduate studies in computer systems and others were placed in systems related jobs in industry.

Citation
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Ellis, M., & Back, G., & Lee, W., & Cameron, K., & Pee, C. (2022, August), Using High Impact Practices to Broaden Undergraduate Participation in Computer Systems Research Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40475

TY - CPAPER
AB - The field of computer systems is intimidating to some students, and doing research in this area can be even more so. While others may have looked at pedagogy in other areas of CS, the specific challenges related to computer systems research have not been addressed much. Yet the problem is real and acute -- single digit participation from women, negligible numbers from other underrepresented groups. Thus, focusing on techniques that work well for those traditionally put-off by systems is imperative since systems are ubiquitous in every important aspect of CS today (artificial intelligence, cloud computing, security, etc.). This report describes a large diverse undergraduate research group in computer systems and the results of a study utilizing a conceptual framework, High Impact Practices, to understand how the design of the research group is perceived by students. The research group has expanded access to systems research to a broader group of students, many of whom have continued on in the field. The assessment revealed that students are benefitting from the knowledge acquired and exchanged within the research group. This report is designed to share approaches we have implemented thus far, outcomes, and a reflection on areas for future improvement.

Our research team is designed to broaden participation in computer systems by providing a positive undergraduate research experience. Early CS research experience in an active research group with a focus on community building and support has been shown to yield positive outcomes on students’ perception of, and retention in, Computer Science. Our team provides community building and support specifically within a systems research group. Our strategies create a research team that propagates the recruitment and retention of a diverse set of students in an area of computer science that traditionally lacks such representation of women, black students, and students with disabilities.

For this report, we used High Impact Practices as a framework to guide the assessment of the research team. We found that the design of the research team currently exemplifies 5 of the 8 characteristics of High Impact Practices: significant effort and time by the students, students understanding the relevance of learning, display of competence to a wide audience, facilitated faculty and peer interactions, and comprehensive feedback. The research team drives these research practices with research skills training, training in practical and computing skills, and relationship cultivation. Several of these students have chosen to pursue graduate studies in computer systems and others were placed in systems related jobs in industry.
AU - Margaret Ellis
AU - Godmar Back
AU - Walter Lee
AU - Kirk Cameron
AU - Crystal Pee
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Using High Impact Practices to Broaden Undergraduate Participation in Computer Systems Research
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/40475
DO - 10.18260/1-2--40475
ER -