A Computer Science Linked-courses Learning Community Amber Settle, DePaul University Joint work with John Lalor and Terry Steinbach The 20th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education 6 July 2015

Our project Linked-courses learning community First-term freshman Men of color and women Python programming and gen ed class together Extra-curricular and co-curricular activities Goal: Improve retention Does it make a difference for the students? Intense effort for the instructors Initial evaluation approach Survey to measure attitudes and study habits Attitudes are connected to retention Spoiler: It does make a difference!

Why worry about retention? Enrollments are booming Taulbee survey 2013 Three straight years of double-digit increases in undergrad majors +1.2% degrees awarded, +25.3% enrollments Diversity still lags 85.5% male, 61.2% white Retention still matters Men of color and women remain underrepresented

Learning communities Learning communities have a long history Six-year experiment at the University of Wisconsin in 1927 Several models Linked-courses learning communities Simultaneously enroll in courses from different disciplines Restructure courses to connect faculty and students Proven impact on students Reduce attrition Increase student/faculty enthusiasm Increase student-student and student-faculty interaction

Our community Target population Fall 2014 cohort First-term freshman Men of color and women Development-focused major CS, IASE, game development, math & CS Fall 2014 cohort 21 students 17 male, 4 female 5 white, 6 Latino/a, 6 Asian, 3 African-American, 1 multiracial 14 CS, 5 gaming, 1 math & CS, 1 math Two students dropped, leaving 19 in final group

The courses CSC 241: Introduction to Computer Science I Required by development-focused majors Problem-solving using Python Research-recommended interventions Differentiated courses, closed labs, collaborative activities LSP 111: Explore Chicago General-education class required of all freshman Our section: The Digital Divide Includes a Common Hour Addresses issues of transition for new college students

Activities Co-curricular Extra-curricular Study sessions for midterm and final exam Tour of physical computing lab Employer visits Extra-curricular Open house at Digital Divide instructor’s house Gaming afternoon at Python instructor’s house Group seating for basketball game

Evaluation Goals of community Connection to diversity efforts Improve sense of belonging and confidence Improve study habits Improve retention in program Connection to diversity efforts Student-student interaction is largest predictor of students’ intention to persist past first course More important for underrepresented students Other factors connected to persistence in major Opportunities for collaboration A positive classroom environment Faculty-student interaction

The survey Based on previous surveys Demographic information Computer Science Attitude Survey, USG Student Computing Survey, and Science Interest Survey Demographic information 33 attitude questions 5-point Likert scale: 5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree Question about utilization of resources for study Rank all used from most (1) to least used Paper survey administered in class by research team Pre-quarter: First week Post-quarter: Tenth week

CSC 241 demographics Control group: Other students taking CSC 241 during Fall 2014 171 responses Gender # (%) Female 31 (18%) Male 138 (81%) Not specified 3 (2%) Major # (%) CS 100 (58%) Game dev 25 (15%) Other 24 (14%) IASE 11 (6%) Other CDM 7 (4%) Undecided 4 (2%) Quarter # (%) First 138 (81%) Second 6 (4%) Third Fourth+ 21 (12%)

LC demographics 15 responses to both the pre- and post-quarter survey Gender # (%) Female 4 (27%) Male 11 (73%) Major # (%) CS 9 (60%) Game dev 6 (40%) Quarter # (%) First 15 (100%)

Significant attitude differences Q 241 Pre 241 Post LC Pre LC Post Result 29 4.00 3.84 4.64 F(1, 44) = 11.27, p = .001 33 3.97 4.57 4.42 F(1, 44) = 9.611, p = .01 Q29: I have a lot of support that will help me succeed in computer science courses Q33: I have had good teachers in my computer science courses

Significant attitude changes Q 241 Pre 241 Post LC Pre LC Post Result 25 3.031 2.718 3.928 4.143 F(1, 44) = 11.97, p = .001 Q25: I am a part of a community of programmers

Effectiveness of learning community More likely to indicate they have a lot of support Not significant pre- to post-quarter Being recruited was most important More likely to indicate they had good CS teachers Good CS teachers make more of a difference for targeted populations More likely to indicate they were part of a community of programmers Significant change pre- to post-quarter Improved sense of belonging!

Conclusions and future work Initial results are positive Feel supported and part of a community More analysis of existing data Comparison with 2013-2014 CSC 241 responses Changes to learning community Larger population More women necessary for statistical analysis Classes only for LC students Extended evaluation More demographic information on survey: ethnicity Retention data

Questions? Amber Settle John Lalor Terry Steinbach asettle@cdm.depaul.edu John Lalor lalor@cs.umass.edu Terry Steinbach tsteinbach@cdm.depaul.edu

Survey On Likert scale (5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree) I plan to major in a technology- related degree I am sure that I can learn programming I am sure that I can do advanced work in computer science I think I could handle more difficult programming problems I can get good grades in computer science I have a lot of self-confidence when it comes to programming I’m not good at programming For some reason even though I work hard at it, programming seems unusually hard for me Computer science has been my worst subject It would make me happy to be recognized as an excellent student in computer science I’d be happy to get top grades in computer science If I got good grades in computer science, I would try to hide it I’ll need programming for my future work Knowing programming will help me earn a living

Survey I will use programming in many ways throughout my life Taking computer science courses is a waste of time Once I start trying to work on a program, I find it hard to stop I am challenged by programming problems I can’t understand immediately I am easily frustrated by difficult programming problems I do as little work in computer science courses as possible I like talking with my friends about programming I like to program in my spare time I belong in the computing field I feel isolated in computer science courses I am part of a community of programmers Computer science offers good financial opportunities after graduation Computer science allows me to be creative Computing offers diverse and broad opportunities

Survey I have a lot of support that will help me to succeed in computer science courses Computer science provides opportunities to make a difference in the world I have a lot of friends who are interested in computing My family is happy that I am taking computer science courses I have had good teachers in my computer science courses Outside of your classroom studies, what are your resources for learning/obtaining new computing skills? Mark all that you use and rank them in order of use. The one you use most should be ranked as 1. Friends/peers Internet/web sites Professional organizations Self study Family members Tutors Faculty Other (please specify)