Information Sciences and Technology

NSF grant to help reimagine first-year experiences through diverse lens

A new $296,804 grant from the National Science Foundation will fund a Penn State-led research project to enhance the learning experiences and career exploration opportunities of minoritized students. In their work, the researchers aim to train faculty and adjust curriculum to be more inclusive of the voices and experiences of traditionally underrepresented populations. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A Penn State research team aims to meet the unique needs of increasingly diverse student bodies by reimagining first-year learning experiences in technology-related degree programs at U.S. universities, thanks to a new $296,804 grant from the National Science Foundation.  

Led by Lynette Yarger, professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) and associate dean for equity and inclusion at Schreyer Honors College, the team aims to enhance the learning experiences and career exploration opportunities of minoritized students by training faculty and adjusting curriculum to be more inclusive of the voices and experiences of traditionally underrepresented populations — including women, Black, Hispanic and Latino students.

“The purpose of this project is to try to broaden participation in computing, which means increasing the number of women and racial and ethnic groups that have been underrepresented in science and technology,” said Yarger.

Through the project, the team will pilot a novel approach for overlaying inclusive teaching practices on the well-established and widely used Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate (ADDIE) course design framework, created by Yarger’s College of IST colleague Chris Gamrat, assistant teaching professor. Focusing their pilot effort at the Penn State College of IST, Yarger’s team will facilitate instructors’ participation in Inclusive ADDIE workshops to redesign the first-year course by overlaying an inclusive pedagogy. They will also work with the college’s career solutions and corporate engagement office to develop a digital badging credential to help recognize students who are taking the proper steps in their first year to put them on a trajectory for career success.

The researchers’ goal is to guide faculty in fostering classroom spaces that welcome and support diverse learners, strengthen student-teacher interactions, and incentivize and reward students’ exploration of technology career resources and opportunities.

“One of the major contributions we hope to make is to the students' outcome and helping them to succeed,” said Yarger. “We could also have some institutional impacts where faculty feel stronger in their understanding of DEI issues and can increase their ability to build their relationships across diverse student populations.”

According to Yarger, one of the biggest criticisms about ADDIE is that it doesn’t always take the context in which coursework is being designed into effect, particularly when thinking about race, ethnicity and technology.

“When you start putting all those together it really begs the question of ‘what if we were to take this well-established procedure for creating courses that people are already familiar with, but infuse inclusion,’" said Yarger.

Inclusion in course design starts with instructors challenging preconceived notions they have about students and reflecting various student communities in the way they’re presenting materials, Yarger said. She explained that this shift could be as simple as faculty ensuring diverse representation of individuals portrayed in course materials.

“It goes through everything, including what kind of examples you pick —a re the protagonists in your cases all male or all white, or do we see some women or Black or Asian protagonists in the pictures you use in your materials?” said Yarger. “And it’s thinking about not only how you teach but also the relationships you build — because it’s one thing to present your materials about technology, but it’s another, and I would argue even more important, thing to build rapport and relationships with those students.”

By applying their framework in the first-year experience, the researchers hope to reach students at a critical time in their academic journey.

“To the extent that we can, we need to create environments that give students a better chance of being successful,” said Yarger. “And it’s mostly on us faculty; we are the people who have the power to change it. Maybe we don’t have all the skills to do that, but if we have the right mentality and go into it as an opportunity to be real contributors to the problem of underrepresentation that has been in the industry for a long time, we can make a big impact in that space.”

In addition to Gamrat, Yarger will collaborate with Roderick Lee, associate professor of information systems at Penn State Harrisburg; and Margaret Hu, professor of law at William & Mary Law School on the project.

Last Updated November 3, 2022

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