How Faculty Negotiate

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Attracting and Retaining Women in Computer Science and Engineering: Evaluating the Results Abstract Computer science and engineering communities have been exploring a variety of activities and techniques to attract and retain more students, especially women and minorities, to computer science and computer engineering degree programs1. This paper briefly describes the efforts and results of a plan for actively recruiting young women into undergraduate computer engineering and computer science programs hosted by the University of North Texas (UNT). It also describes a series of activities aimed at improving the retention rate of students already in our programs, particularly during the freshman year. Such recruitment and retention efforts are critical to the country’s efforts to increase the number of engineering professionals, and are a priority for the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Department at UNT. We initially designed a three-part plan to achieve our recruitment and retention goals: • Sponsorship of portable and mobile summer computer engineering robotics camps for middle and high-school women students, coordinating with the regional Girl Scouts councils and other organizations to help with the recruitment; • Creation of an Ambassador program using young women currently enrolled in the upper division of current computer science and computer engineering programs as a form of outreach to area high schools and junior colleges; and • Expansion of our successful undergraduate mentoring program by using the Ambassador cohort mentioned above as mentors for incoming freshman and first-year transfer women entering our programs. This paper will focus primarily on the summer camp program and present an analysis of the results we have seen to date after 2 years of camp activities. Results from student surveys and parent surveys will be presented. The paper concludes with recommended changes and improvements in the program, as well as a discussion of adaptations that would create programs suitable for implementation at other institutions as well as programs aimed at a different target population. The three phases previously enumerated each build upon currently accepted educational practices. The robotics summer camp in particular used problem-based learning approaches, similar to those described in The Power of Problem-Based Learning2. This study clearly demonstrates the significant benefits of teaching students how to think by using a problem-based approach. We also developed a mobile laboratory so that the summer camp can be held at several locations, thus broadening and expanding the reach of the camps to traditionally underserved populations and geographical regions. Similarly, both the ambassador and mentoring programs derive from research showing how the recruitment and retention of women in engineering- related fields can be increased by providing opportunities to develop student-to-student relationships3, 4.

There is an emphasis today throughout many academic programs on developing and sustaining information assurance (IA) programs. While we often refer to such programs collectively as information assurance, they tend to be decidedly different in approach and content depending on many factors. This paper does not attempt to differentiate between such approaches but rather outlines a discovery approach to information assurance pedagogy – regardless of course content or curriculum. Such an approach is applicable whether or not the IA curriculum is a standalone degree or contained within a computer science, business information systems, or computer engineering program. The examples given in this paper were from a computer science and engineering program.

It is with pleasure that the IEEE Computer Society welcomes this opportunity to participate with ACM members concerned with education of computer scientists and computer engineers. It is hoped that this cooperation will continue in the future. Described in this panel presentation will be the results of two years of concentrated development by members of the IEEE Computer Society Education Committee towards cohesive and flexible model curricula for 4-year computer science and engineering programs. This effort was initiated in May 1974, and since has resulted in eight working sessions, has involved 20 active module developers, has called upon nearly 40 outside reviewers, and has sought cooperation with academia, industry, the ACM and the DISE Committee. The first test of the model curricula was held in June 1976 at a IEEE Computer Society Educators Workshop; a test that seemed to be passed as judged by those attending the workshop.Specifically, this panel presentation will introduce the IEEE Computer Society effort, will place the effort in historical perspective, and will describe in detail the need as seen by many educators. It will dwell briefly on past contributions by similar committees, will provide a definition of computer science and engineering and will provide a pictorial outline of the 17 modules that comprise the five subject areas of the proposed curricula. This will be followed with selected examples of possible implementation strategies. The presentation will close with a summary of future work and a short comparison of the IEEE and ACM efforts.

This white paper argues that formal methods need to be better rooted in higher education curricula for computer science and software engineering programmes of study. To this end, it advocates improved teaching of formal methods; systematic highlighting of formal methods within existing, ‘classical’ computer science courses; and the inclusion of a compulsory formal methods course in computer science and software engineering curricula. These recommendations are based on the observations that formal methods are an essential and cost-effective means to increase software quality; however computer science and software engineering programmes typically fail to provide adequate training in formal methods; and thus there is a lack of computer science graduates who are qualified to apply formal methods in industry. This white paper is the result of a collective effort by authors and participants of the 1st International Workshop on Formal Methods – Fun for Everybody which was held in Bergen, Norway, 2–3 December 2019. As such, it represents insights based on learning and teaching computer science and software engineering (with or without formal methods) at various universities across Europe.

This Research to Practice Full Paper discusses an approach to motivating graduate computer science and electrical engineering students in the study of quantum computing. The U.S. Congress and other governmental and industrial organizations have recognized that teaching Quantum Computing in university-level Computer Science and Electrical Engineering programs is strategically important for workforce development along with technology development. Success in this endeavor requires generating genuine interest in the topic and motivating potential students. Quantum Computing requires an understanding of relatively difficult related subjects including physics, math and computer science. Many computer science and electrical engineering students shy away from quantum computing because of its complexity. This paper discusses our success with generating interest in quantum computing among graduate students and motivating them through exploring, in related courses, some aspects of quantum computing that have the potential to generate discontinuities. The approach is also examined in terms of the Scientific Learning Cycle as discussed by Wankat & Oreovicz. Opportunities and challenges of adding Quantum Computing to Computer Science and Electrical Engineering programs were studied through a student small group project in a cybersecurity course. The work built on extensive research into the effectiveness of small group projects and the role of “play” in learning. Our small group project on quantum computing was introduced three years ago into a cybersecurity course which is required for all students in our university's Masters in Computer Science and Masters in Electrical Engineering programs. The basic goals of the project are to teach students some basics of quantum computing by allowing them to “play with it” and to alert students to the fact that quantum computing is a rapidly developing new field that they need to follow during at least the next decade. The small group project helped students to explore the potential of quantum computing to substantially undermine current Public Key Cryptography and, at the same time provide a new approach to encryption that is even more secure than Public Key Cryptography. A qualitative analysis of discussions and assigned tasks suggests that this strategy succeeded in generating significant interest in quantum computing among students. They became motivated and immersed in a difficult subject despite the requirement for investment of significant time and effort to understand a complex combination of physics, math and computer science.

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines suffer from chronically low participation of women and underrepresented minorities. Diversity enhancement initiatives frequently attempt to mitigate skill deficits such as math skills in an attempt to improve preparedness of these students. However, such interventions do not address cultural or social barriers that contribute to the isolation and marginalization that discourage continued participation in STEM. Science exists and is developed within social constructs.; because of this, cultural conflicts can occur pertaining to contrasting cultural belief systems between educators and students, or to socially-biased perspectives that are embedded in disciplinary values. These conflicts are implicated in the low recruitment and retention of underrepresented students in STEM. To address the relationship between culture and STEM diversity, I present a case study that examines the role of culturally-biased views of nature on the lack of diverse participation in ecology and environmental biology. I conclude by advocating the use of inclusive, culturally-sensitive teaching practices that can improve the climate for underrepresented students and increase diverse recruitment and retention in STEM.

This article presents results from a Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) grant from the National Science Foundation that supported students from three majors and funded the development of cocurricular activities designed to increase the workforce development of first-generation and underrepresented students. Scholar cohorts were interdisciplinary, with students majoring in biology, chemistry, and environmental science. We present details from four categories of activities: library resources and information literacy, career services, professional development, and community engagement. We discuss how the process of designing the activities created collaborations between STEM faculty and student support staff and between faculty and regional employers and nonprofit organizations. Results from formative assessments are presented from the group of scholars as a whole, as we did not detect significant differences as a function of gender, first-generation status, race or ethnicity, or academic major. Overall, the community engagement events were rated more poorly than other activities because they were viewed as contributing less to gains of knowledge or skills. Finally, we found that how the scholars viewed the activities depended more on how we discussed the activities with them than on the scholars’ academic or demographic features. Additional informationNotes on contributorsJoanna Joyner-MatosJoanna Joyner-Matos (jmatos@ewu.edu) is a professor in the Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington.Kayleen Islam-ZwartKayleen Islam-Zwart is a professor in the School of Psychology, Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington.

Supplemental Material for Sustaining Optimal Motivation: A Longitudinal Analysis of Interventions to Broaden Participation of Underrepresented Students in STEM

Fostering Computational Thinking among Underrepresented Students in STEM

Experiential learning opportunities, such as undergraduate research, are found to be useful in promoting retention and graduation in STEM majors, and specifically for underrepresented student populations. These opportunities are being implemented throughout the United Stated as a means to improve student learning and persistence. In Kentucky’s strategic plan, experiential learning activities are seen as an avenue to help students persist in college and are key components in helping the commonwealth reach their goal of sixty-percent of adult Kentuckians earning a college credential by 2030. Mirroring the commonwealth’s strategic plan, Northern Kentucky University (NKU) emphasized the importance for experiential learning opportunities and student success, particularly for underrepresented students. However, little is known about how these experiences are able to produce student persistence towards degree completion. McDevitt, Patel, Rose, and Ellison (2016) found that after participating in a summer research program, some students expressed a greater sense of respect as a member of the scientific community. The present study investigates the influences of a summer research program on student science identity, sense of belonging and persistence in STEM. In-depth interviews with students, faculty, and administrators revealed how a summer research program can influence student persistence in STEM, especially for underrepresented students. Implications from this study suggest that undergraduate research programs that include faculty and peer interactions, career exploration, and the physical “doing” of research are likely to produce student persistence in STEM, particularly for underrepresented students. Limitations of the study, such as conducting the research in the midst of a global pandemic are discussed as well.

As cybersecurity issues become ever more prevalent in today’s society, it is imperative that our computer science and engineering programs train students to work in cybersecurity fields. The University of Cincinnati’s Department Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, part of a NSA Center of Excellence, is developing a new B.S. in Cybersecurity Engineering which will be coordinated with cybersecurity programs in Information Technology and in Political Science. We describe our current cybersecurity certificate progran and our proposed new B.S. in Cybersecurity Engineering, which will meet the criteria to apply for ABET EAC accreditation.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify how Advanced level Mathematics and Mathematics course units offered at university level do impact on the academic performance of theoretical Computer Science course units. Background: In Sri Lankan state universities, students have been enrolled only from the Physical Science stream to do a degree program in Computer Science. In addition to that, universities have been offering some course units in Mathematics to provide the required mathematical maturity to Computer Science undergraduates. Despite of this it is observed that the failure rates in fundamental theoretical Computer Science course units are much higher than other course units offered in the general degree program every year. Methodology : Academic records comprised of all 459 undergraduates from three consecutive batches admitted to the degree program in Computer Science from a university were considered for this study. Contribution: This study helps academics in identifying suitable curricula for Mathematics course units to improve students’ performance in theoretical Computer Science courses. Findings: Advanced level Mathematics does not have any significant effect on the academic performance of theoretical Computer Science course units. Even though all Mathematics course units offered were significantly correlated with academic performance of every theoretical Computer Science course unit, only the Discrete Mathematics course unit highly impacted on the academic performance of all three theoretical Computer Science course units. Further this study indicates that the academic performance of female undergraduates is better than males in all theoretical Computer Science and Mathematics course units. Future Research: Identifying other critical success factors contributing to the students’ academic performance of the theoretical Computer Science through empirical studies

The subject of computer architecture as currently taught in most computer engineering and computer science programs is a mixture of architectural principles, organizational strategies, and implementation techniques. This blurring of the hierarchy of system levels that characterize the structure of a computer has made it very difficult for students (and often instructors as well) to determine what were the forces that led to the design decisions they have seen reflected in machines.In view of these circumstances, a task force was established by the IEEE Computer Society to prepare a detailed specification for a course of study in computer architecture for students whose major interest is in computer engineering or computer science.

During recent years the interest in Engineering Studies has declined at universities both in the United States and in many Western European countries including Sweden. In addition, among those students that do enroll, an increasing number drop-out. This paper presents an attempt to mitigate these worrying problems in the form of a new kind of introductory course for first-year engineering students studying on a 5-year long Master of Science program in Computer Science and Engineering. The course is novel in that it takes a holistic approach to motivate and prepare students for their further studies. Core subjects and useful tools are mixed together into an intense 10-week course with 12 separate course modules on different topics, often running in parallel. The course has a total of 21 individual examinations to take, tasks to carry out, and deadlines to meet. The examinations and tasks are chosen among those common in our School of Engineering. Evaluations show that, although demanding for the students, the course works well and fulfills its goals.

With parallel and distributed computing (PDC) now wide-spread, modern computing programs must incorporate PDC within the curriculum. ACM and IEEE Computer Society's Computer Science curricular guidelines have recommended exposure to PDC concepts since 2013. More recently, a variety of initiatives have made PDC curricular content, lectures, and labs freely available for undergraduate computer science programs. Despite these efforts, progress in ensuring computer science students graduate with sufficient PDC exposure has been uneven.This paper discusses the impact of ABET's revised criteria that have required exposure to PDC to achieve accreditation for computer science programs since 2018. The authors reviewed 20 top ABET-accredited computer science programs and analyzed how they covered the required PDC components in their curricula. Using their own institutions as case studies, the authors examine in detail how three different ABET-accredited computer science programs covered PDC using different approaches, yet meeting the PDC requirements of these ABET criteria. The paper also shows how ACM/IEEE Computer Society curricular guidelines for computer engineering and software engineering programs, along with ABET accreditation criteria, can cover PDC.