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Five year NSF S-STEM grant supporting high achieving, financially needy students in Computer Science and Mathematics

Research Study Context

Research Questions and Study Design

Focus Groups~1 hour; questions focused on program comments/suggestions +interaction of program features with students’ SEIB

Sample21 participants across 4 focus groups: 9 first-year + 12 upper division

Coding SchemeProgram components of interest- Seminar courses + Computer Programming I course- Mentoring program

- Mentoring stances; Instrumental vs. socioemotional- Student affective factors (SEIB)

- Self-efficacy; identity, sense of belonging

Matrix Coding Query (QSR NVivo 12)- Intersection of coding between program components and SEIB

factors (number of words coded)- For mentoring, separated by apparent stance

Data Sources & Analyses

Figure 1: SEIB Factors x Program Components

Seminars & “Early Exposure to CS”- Seminar courses most connected to students’

belongingness & self-efficacy, followed closely by identity

- Little discussion of effects of Computer Programming I course on students’ SEIB

Mentoring- Mentoring discussions/relationships most strongly

related to students’ identity development, though still important to belongingness & self-efficacy

- Mentoring conversations more focused on coaching than consulting, likely due to near-peer dynamic; very little collaborating – logical given temporary relationship & lack of explicit opportunities for collaboration

- Mentoring conversations clearly included both instrumental & socioemotional aspects

Findings Conclusions & Next StepsSeminars: Mostly supported development of self-efficacy / sense of belonging Mentoring: Mostly supported identity development

Mentoring stances and instrumental vs. socioemotional focus mediated by:

– Mentoring dyad type (UG-UG vs. UG-ECPM)– Level of alignment between mentor & mentee goals /

career interests Findings align with Robnett et al. (2018), who showed significant correlation between instrumental & socioemotional mentoring & gains in science identity

Next Steps: Additional exploration of mentoring relationships & their connections to students’ SEIB using data drawn from: Student-submitted responses to mentoring program prompts & focus groups conducted with Early Career Professional Mentors

ReferencesChemers, M.M., Zurbriggen, E.L., Syed, M., Goza, B.K., & Bearman, S.

(2011). The role of efficacy and identity in science career commitment among underrepresented minority students. Journal of Social Issues, 67(3), 469-491.

Hausmann, L., Schofield, J., & Woods, R. (2007). Sense of belonging as a predictor of intentions to persist among African American and white first-year college students. Research in Higher Education, 48(7), 803-839.

Kim, A. Y., Sinatra, G. M., & Seyranian, V. (2018). Developing a STEM Identity Among Young Women: A Social Identity Perspective. Review of Educational Research, 88(4), 589–625.

Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45(1), 79-122.

Lipton, L., & Wellman, B. (2017). Mentoring Matters (3rd ed.). Charlotte, VT: MiraVia, LLC.

MacPhee, D., Farro, S., & Canetto, S. S. (2013). Academic self‐efficacy and performance of underrepresented STEM majors: Gender, ethnic, and social class patterns. ASAP, 13(1), 347-369.

Robnett, R. D., Nelson, P. A., Zurbriggen, E. L., Crosby, F. J, & Chemers, M. M. (2018). Research mentoring and scientist identity: insights from undergraduates and their mentors. International Journal of STEM Education 5.

Syed, M., Zurbriggen, E. L., Chemers, M. M., Goza, B. K., Bearman, S., Crosby, F. J., ... Morgan, E. M. (Accepted/In press). The Role of Self-Efficacy and Identity in Mediating the Effects of STEM Support Experiences. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.

AcknowledgmentsThanks to Tiffany Pan for crucial assistance with data collection, cleaning, organization, sharing, etc.

Thanks to the organizers and presenters of the Capacity Building Workshop for Competitive NSF S-STEM Proposals held at Rice University, whose invaluable advice and insights helped shape the design of the research study and the larger grant program.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE 1742110. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

RQ1: How, and to what extent, does participation in targeted curricular and co-curricular activities in CS/M influence development of undergraduate students’ self-efficacy, identity, and sense of belonging (SEIB) related to these subjects?

RQ2: How, and to what extent, does early exposure to CS affect undergraduate CS/M majors, both in terms of personal attributes (SEIB) and academic and professional outcomes?

Underlying Theoretical FrameworksSocial cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) & mediation model of research experiences:- Self-efficacy (Chemers et al., 2011; MacPhee, Farro, & Canetto, 2013) - Identity (Chemers et al., 2011; Kim, Sinatra, & Seyranian, 2018) - Sense of belonging (Hausmann, Schofield, & Woods, 2007)

Mentoring stances (Lipton & Wellman, 2017)- Consulting: sharing information, advice, resources, standards

for professional practice- Collaborating: co-developing information, ideas, and

approaches to problems - Coaching: supporting mentee’s idea production, ability to

reflect, ability to self-coach and become self-directed learner

Instrumental and social-emotional mentoring (Robnett, Nelson, Zurbriggen, Crosby, & Chemers, 2018)

Treatment OverviewTopics in Mathematics seminar; Exploring CS seminar, which combined w/ Computer Programming I = “Early exposure to CS”

Near-peer mentoring program- First-year mentees + upper division mentors- Upper division mentees + Early Career Professional Mentors

(ECPMs; recent graduates in CS &/or Math)

1Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA; jabrobst@odu.edu / 757-683-5429 2Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA; 3University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Joseph Brobst,1 Perry Fizzano,2 David Hartenstine,2 & Elizabeth Litzler3Early impacts of seminars and mentoring in an interdisciplinary S-STEM

Coding Overlaps Belonging Identity Self-efficacy Seminar courses 1974 1712 1983 Programming I course 188 154 130 Mentoring - Total 1300 2575 1257

Coaching Stance 834 1285 1083 Collaborating Stance 18 18 0 Consulting Stance 457 790 354

Representative QuotesSeminar Courses

- Shifts in students’ self-efficacy and identity related to CS in response to seminars:

“I think coming in as someone who didn't know anything about computer science before, taking the seminars has allowed me to feel like I can do this and I should be here.”

- Shifts in students’ sense of belonging in response to seminars:S1: “Having the seminars where we were constantly interacting with the other classmates, and then those people were in my other classes, was really a nice way to find a group of people who are also really interested in doing well in school and high achieving.”

S2: “I agree with that…that was a very good transition and it’s like everyone was kind of like-minded with where they wanted to go career wise. I came into it wanting to get a community out of it, and I did.”

Mentoring Experiences- Mentoring experiences’ general influence on students’ identity:

“And just my somewhat monthly conversations with my mentor, it's just been great. Here's someone who is in the field, who is accomplished academically. And I don't come from a family where a lot of people graduated college. So it's really cool to see, that's what that looks like.”

- Socioemotional mentoring using a coaching stance, connecting to students’ identity & sense of belonging:

“It’s kind of helped me to realize that it’s okay, where I’m at, and what I’m doing is good, but also, this is what you can be doing in the future…something that a good mentor does is let you know that you’re in an okay spot and you’re doing an okay thing, but this is what you need to improve on. So, it’s been really helpful in that regard.”

“Like we’re both undergraduate students, me and my mentee, it’s less about I have all this wisdom to give you and more about I’m just someone you can talk to and express the challenges you’re going through. And have some solidarity…”

- Instrumental mentoring using a consulting stance, connecting to students’ identity:

“So, I want to be a data scientist after I graduate, my mentor is currently working as a data scientist…he gave really good career advice, certain coursework, what things to focus on, on my resume…internship advice, a lot of advice for really cool stuff. So, I’m very glad to have a mentor who shares my career…working as my potential career future.”

Findings

Coding Overlaps

Belonging

Identity

Self-efficacy

Seminar courses

1974

1712

1983

Programming I course

188

154

130

Mentoring - Total

1300

2575

1257

Coaching Stance

834

1285

1083

Collaborating Stance

18

18

0

Consulting Stance

457

790

354

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