Scientific Skills, Identity, and Career Aspiration Development from Early Research Experiences in Computer Science

Cecilia O. Alm and Reynold Bailey

Volume 13, Issue 1 (April 2022), pp. 2–16

https://doi.org/10.22369/issn.2153-4136/13/1/1

PDF icon Download PDF

BibTeX
@article{jocse-13-1-1,
  author={Cecilia O. Alm and Reynold Bailey},
  title={Scientific Skills, Identity, and Career Aspiration Development from Early Research Experiences in Computer Science},
  journal={The Journal of Computational Science Education},
  year=2022,
  month=apr,
  volume=13,
  issue=1,
  pages={2--16},
  doi={https://doi.org/10.22369/issn.2153-4136/13/1/1}
}
Copied to clipboard!

The computer science research workforce is characterized by a lack of demographic diversity. To address this, we designed and evaluated an end-to-end mentored undergraduate research intervention to nurture diverse cohorts' skills for research and develop their vision of themselves as scientists. We hypothesized that this intervention would (a) grow scientific skills, (b) increase science identity, and (c) stimulate students to view scientific careers in computer science as future viable options. The evaluation of the hypotheses addressed the limitations in self-evaluation with a multicomponent evaluation framework, comprising five forms of evidence from faculty and students, engaging on team projects, with cohorts additionally participating in professional development programming. Results indicated that students gained in scientific skills and broadened their identity as scientists and, to some degree, strengthened their outlook on research careers. The introduced structured intervention and evaluation framework were part of a US National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) computing-focused summer program at Rochester Institute of Technology and are applicable in other scientific disciplines and institutional settings.