CERP Presents Data Buddies Data at SIGCSE 2016

By Jane Stout, Director of the Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline

The CRA’s Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP) made several contributions to the 2016 SIGCSE conference. Using data collected through the Data Buddies Project, the CERP team presented three talks during the event.

Research Scientist, Burçin Tamer, presented a paper published in the 2016 SIGCSE Proceedings, which investigated characteristics of Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) that are particularly engaging for men from underrepresented ethnic groups, and all women (URMW). Tamer’s talk was part of a larger paper session focusing on pedagogical techniques that may enhance diversity in CS.

CERP Director, Jane Stout, served on a panel chaired by Professor Tracy Camp, aimed at understanding the current “boom” in Introductory CS course enrollment. Stout presented recent Data Buddies data explaining students’ motivation for enrolling in Intro CS, and reasons for dropping Intro CS courses — particularly among URMW students. Content from the SIGCSE panel will be discussed further during a session at the 2016 CRA Conference at Snowbird.

Stout also presented a working paper focusing on the beneficial nature of supportive learning environments on women CS major’s self-efficacy, and sense of belonging in computing. The format of the presentation was a “flashtalk”, where the speaker is limited to a short period of time (typically 5 minutes) to present their work.

CERP wishes to thank the Data Buddies departments who distribute CERP surveys to students. As demonstrated above, Data Buddies data is an excellent resource for understanding students’ experiences in the computing community.

Is your department a buddy? If not, help the computing community by volunteering your department to become a Data Buddy today! Visit CERP’s website to sign up: http:/cra.org/cra/cerp/data-buddies/.