Patterns Of Academic Help-Seeking In Undergraduate Computing Students

Knowing when and how to seek academic help is crucial to the success of undergraduate computing students. While individual help-seeking resources have been studied, little is understood about the factors influencing students to use or avoid certain re- sources. Understanding students’ patterns of help-seeking can help identify factors contributing to utilization or avoidance of help resources by different groups, an important step toward improving the quality and accessibility of resources. We present a mixed-methods study investigating the help-seeking behavior of undergraduate computing students. We collected survey data (n = 138) about students’ frequency of using several resources followed by one-on-one student interviews (n = 15) to better understand why they use those resources. Several notable patterns were found. Women sought help in office hours more frequently than men did and computing majors sought help from their peers more often than non-computing majors. Additionally, interview data revealed a common progression in which students started from easily accessible but low utility resources (online sources and peers) before moving on to less easily accessible, high utility resources (like instructor office hours). Finally, while no differences between racial groups was observed, the lack of diversity in our sample limits these findings

Examining the Influence of the Classroom Environment on Motivation, Belonging, and Academic Confidence in Engineering Education: A Relational Developmental Systems Approach

This dissertation explores the impact of the classroom environment on undergraduate engineering students by integrating three manuscripts using the process-person-context-time (PPCT) model within Bioecological Systems Theory. Each manuscript focused on students’ sense of belonging, motivation, and academic confidence. The study confirms prior research suggesting a link between students\u27 perceptions of the environment and their sense of belonging, motivation, and academic confidence. The findings highlight the complex nature of student and classroom environment relationships throughout their college experience. Moreover, the results are demonstrated across different engineering majors. Overall, this dissertation highlights the significance of understanding the complex interactions between students and their classroom environments in engineering education. It emphasized the need to create more inclusive and supportive classroom environments that have the ability to enhance students\u27 sense of belonging and motivation. These findings have implications for engineering educators seeking to foster positive learning experiences for all students, regardless of their background or major

Digital Education For All: Better Students Through Open Doors?

The Digital Education For All project (DEFA) is a joint collaboration of five universities to open first-year computer science courses online and for free to audiences outside of universities. Additionally, students who complete enough courses through the project can apply for a study right at any of the participating universities. Completing university courses as a method of applying for a study right measures students' motivation over a long period of time, and gives the students a clear idea of the content they will encounter during their studies, whereas a traditional entrance exam measures competence only at a single point in time. While high school grades, another typical intake mechanism besides entrance exams, measure generic study skills, course-based intake mechanisms may help with student retention, as students express and gain interest in the field while completing the required courses. This study is a preliminary examination of the student intake of the DEFA project in the University of Helsinki, one of the participating universities, and a comparison of how the students accepted through the project perform in studies compared to students accepted through other intake mechanisms. Students wishing to apply for a study right through this intake are expected to complete one regular study year's worth of first-year computer science and mathematics courses in approximately one calendar year.Peer reviewe

Latinx Students in STEM Education Research: A CRT and LatCrit Analysis of NSF Funded Projects

This thesis used Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) to conduct an in-depth analysis of whether literature funded through the use of National Science Foundation (NSF) research awards perpetuates race, racism, or other interacting systems of oppression in the research or if the investigators resisted inequalities against Latinx students in STEM research. This thesis examined how the investigators of twenty NSF-funded articles examined the experiences of Latinx students in STEM. From a CRT and LatCrit lens I analyze articles to see if and in what ways researchers are complicit with oppression and which ways they resist. I argue that investigators not acknowledging racism and sexism in their research is as detrimental to Latinx students as it is to educational research. I also argue that investigators resisted inequalities with the use of culturally relevant approaches and practices. I found that the use of culturally appropriate approaches and counterstories identified Latinx students as holders and creators of knowledge and brought their ways of knowing from the margins to the center of research. In contrast, I found that research articles that maintained dominant ideologies such as meritocracy disadvantaged Latinx students, perpetuated inequality in higher education, and negatively influences research. Advisor: Stephanie Bond

The Future of Higher Education for Land-Grant Institutions: Considerations Beyond Short-Term Strategic Planning

This research addresses future challenges for land-grant universities and calls on administrators to look beyond short-term strategic planning. Chapter One frames the research problem and presents a brief history of U.S. higher education defined by disruption and evolution. Statistical models provide a basis to identify future challenges for land-grant universities. I then propose to address those challenges by investigating University Industry Partnerships (UIP), increasing research productivity, and fostering sense of belonging for part-time graduate students. I use a systematic literature review of UIP structuring practices to reveal how UIPs are structured by time, personnel, and flexible horizontal organizational structures. I then use hermeneutical interpretative policy analysis to examine university research policies and research productivity. Findings from this policy analysis indicate institutional policies can positively influence research productivity when accompanied by investment in support and coordinated communication; consequences of institutional research policies are priorities are also addressed. Finally, I conducted a quantitative study to examine sense of belonging for part-time graduate students. Data analysis suggests existing measures of SB may need revision to accurately capture SB for part-time students. Findings indicate that positive academic outcomes are associated with higher levels of SB for part-time graduate students

The Relationship Between Student Academic Performance, Pre And In-College Factors, And Trends Since Covid-19 At An HBCU

This study used the Ecological System theory developed by Bronfenbrenner (1992) to understand African American students’ academic performance at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). The systems include the microsystem (for example, family, school, and peers), mesosystem (for example, relationships between different microsystems), exosystem (for example, community and societal institutions), and macrosystem (for example, cultural and societal values) (Peppler, 2017). These systems can all have an impact on student academic performance. This quantitative study utilized archival data to examine three research questions to reveal the relationship between student academic performance and (a) pre-college factors (high school GPA and SAT), (b) student financial dependency status, and (c) the COVID-19 pandemic. Keywords: covid-19 pandemic, dependent status, dependent student, independent studen

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) In Higher Education From The Perspective Of Female Students: An Institutional Ethnography

A persistent disadvantage for females is systemically embedded in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education in postsecondary institutions. As a result, undergraduate women majoring in STEM fields face a uniquely difficult path; yet, for the most part, recommendations made and supported in the literature have focused on recruitment of women to STEM fields or on ways to make women more successful and comfortable in their STEM major. These recommendations have so far proved to be insufficient to remedy a gender gap and serve to replicate the existing male hierarchy. In order to truly make the STEM classroom one in which women are welcome and comfortable and to challenge the existing social and scientific systems, it is necessary to explore and understand the social and political implications embedded within teaching and learning choices. This institutional ethnography addresses that gap. The purpose of this study was to uncover and describe the institutional practices of STEM education at a Midwest research university (MRU) from the standpoint of female undergraduate students. Using the framework of feminist standpoint theory, this study explored the everyday “work” of female undergraduate STEM students to provide a unique perspective on the STEM education teaching and learning environment. Data collection began with in-depth interviews with female undergraduate math and physics students. As the institutional processes shaping undergraduate participant experiences were identified, subsequent data collection included classroom observations, additional interviews with students and faculty, and analysis of the texts that mediate these processes (e.g., syllabi and student handbooks). Data analysis followed Carspecken’s process of ethnographic data analysis that began with low-level coding, followed by high-level coding, and concluded by pulling codes together through the creation of themes. Analysis of data led to three key findings. First, undergraduate participants reported being challenged by difficult and intimidating aspects of the teaching and learning environment. Second, undergraduate participants reported challenges meeting some of the characteristics of successful math and physics students (e.g., taking risks, asking questions, putting school first) and preferred a collectivistic environment. Third, participants described challenges from conflicting STEM academic expectations and institutional policies, which made it harder for them to meet STEM expectations. Findings indicate that efforts to reduce the “chilly” climate have been unsuccessful, largely because discourses that motivate the chilly climate have not changed. Those discourses are evidence of a masculine STEM institution, which also creates a male ideal that female students are expected to meet, further exacerbating their discomfort in the STEM environment. The masculinized nature of a STEM institution is reinforced by neoliberal policies that emphasize the importance of meeting gendered ideal STEM student characteristics. The result is that while women persist, they face stress, anxiety, and discomfort. Recommendations to improve the chilly climate include: revising the STEM institution from one that is masculine to one that is inclusive of women; and, to create a STEM educational environment that supports, validates, and gives women an equal voice

An Equity-minded Assessment of Belonging among Computing Students at Cal Poly

Creating a Computer Science and Software Engineering Department that supports students with diverse identities and backgrounds is essential to creating a computing workforce that reflects the world at large. Inspired by the work of Metcalf et al.\u27s survey conducted at the University of Illinois, we use the same methods to examine the state of our computing department with respect to issues of inclusive climate and student sense of belonging, which have been shown to be important for retention in STEM fields. We use the four areas that contribute to belonging based on the work of Rainey et al. along with a fifth category of learning environment in order to assess our students\u27 sense of belonging. This paper\u27s main focus is based on results from two surveys of Cal Poly Students conducted exactly one year apart (2019: n=154, 2020: n=122). Both surveys were sent to all computing majors in Spring quarter, the last quarter of the regular academic year. We found that 58-68\% of students felt they were not typical computer scientists, which mirrors the results of the survey conducted at the University of Illinois, indicating that the lack of belonging is perhaps a ubiquitous problem within the field of computing. Other salient results include identifying the presence of statistically significant differences for some groups based on gender and race & ethnicity. These differences were found when looking at students\u27 senses of their science identity and learning environment. We also found that women had a significantly greater chance of having strong interpersonal relationships within computing. The survey results are augmented by a survey of first-quarter freshmen in Fall 2019 (n=44) and student interviews conducted in Spring 2021 (n=15). We hope that the addition of these results explain and expand upon our main results and add insight as to how the student experience can evolve from a student\u27s first quarter onward. These differences shine an important light on some positive trends as well as several concerning differences to be examined in our quest to create a diverse and equitable department

Women’s Sense of Belonging in Computer Science Education:The Need for a Collective Response

The gender imbalance in Computing education continues to be concerning, with women hugely underrepresented in the field. Prior research on improving gender equality in the discipline discusses the need to improve women's sense of belonging. However, this has seldom included women's understanding of what a sense of belonging is for them - nor have solutions for fostering belonging been co-created with women. In this paper, we report on the findings of four innovative focus groups with thirteen women, students and staff, in a university Computer Science department - uncovering their experiences of belonging and their proposed solutions to improving it. Through these focus groups, we present the experiences impacting our participants' sense of belonging, alongside our participants' solutions for fostering belonging within Computing. From this, we discuss the need for a collective response to fostering a sense of belonging in Computer Science, specifically through having a collective understanding of the barriers to a sense of belonging, applying a collective of solutions to foster belonging, and taking collective responsibility for improving equality

A methodology to predict community college STEM student retention and completion

Numerous government reports point to the multifaceted issues facing the country\u27s capacity to increase the number of STEM majors, while also diversifying the workforce. Community colleges are uniquely positioned as integral partners in the higher education ecosystem. These institutions serve as an access point to opportunity for many students, especially underrepresented minorities and women. Community colleges should serve as a major pathway to students pursuing STEM degrees; however student retention and completion rates are dismally low. Therefore, there is a need to predict STEM student success and provide interventions when factors indicate potential failure. This enables educational institutions to better advise and support students in a more intentional and efficient manner. The objective of this research was to develop a model for predicting success. The methodology uses the Mahalanobis Taguchi System as a novel approach to pattern recognition and gives insight into the ability of MTS to predict outcomes based on student demographic data and academic performance. The method accurately predicts institution-specific risk factors that can be used to better retain STEM students. The research indicates the importance of using community college student data to target this distinctive student population that has demonstrated risk factors outside of the previously reported factors in prior research. This methodology shows promise as a mechanism to close the achievement gap and maximize the power of open-access community college pathways for STEM majors --Abstract, page iv