Building Bridges and Breaking Barriers

1. Building Bridges and Breaking Barriers Panel on Diversity and Inclusion in Computer Science Education

2. ModeratorMeg Dickey-Kurdziolek • PhD Candidate @ Virginia Tech • Research on the bridge between Education and Computing

3. Why Diversity Matters? (Manuel Pérez-Quiñones) • Institutional efforts (Bonnie MacKellar) • Classroom climate (Amy Csizmar Dalal) • Best Practices for Inclusion (Stephanie Ludi) • Strategies for the Teaching Assistant (Megan Olsen) • Questions from the Audience • Continue the discussion - CS Educators for Diversity Outline for Panel Discussion

4. Manuel Pérez-Quiñones What Diversity Means • Assoc. Prof, CS • Assoc. Dean, Grad School, Virginia Tech • Chair CDC

5. Diversity is... Individual differences (e.g., personality, learning styles, and life experiences) and  ...group/social differences (e.g., race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, and ability as well as cultural, political, religious, or other affiliations)  ...that can be engaged in the service of learning and working together. http://www.aacu.org/inclusive_excellence/index.cfm

6. Inclusion Inclusion describes the active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity—in people, in the curriculum, in the co-curriculum, and in communities.

7. Understanding diversity • Stereotype Threat - disrupted performance when faced with negative stereotype (Claude Steele) • Privilege (Peggy Mcintosh) - special advantage enjoyed by an individual, group, or class • Implicit Bias - processing of information in ways that leads to biased judgements • Minority Tax - unfair use of minority (or women) in groups as the only representative of their groups • Corollary: expectations that minorities (or women) will join particular causes

8. Associate Professor in Computer Science,St John's University, Queens, NY • On Women in Science Advisory Board at St John's • Spent 10 years working in the software industry before returning to teaching Bonnie MacKellarInstitutional Efforts to Support Diversity

9. 97% of our students receive financial aid, and 42% are classified as Pell eligible. • 23% of the CS majors are African-American, Asian-Americans account for 15%, Hispanics for 16%, white, non-Hispanic for 27%, unknown for 12% and foreign students are 11%. •  Two resources that helped me understand what my students struggle with : • Stuck in the Shallow End, Education, Race and Computing, by Jane Margolis • Making Computer Science Minority Friendly, by Roli Varma, CACM,Feb. 2006

10. The importance of socioeconomic class • need to work while going to college • more focused on immediate career goals • less exposure to core computing concepts before college • The intimidation factor • need to level the playing field by ensuring preparation for each level of the major • Mentoring and community • The effect of course offerings and curriculum choices • Outreach

11. Recommendations • Flexible scheduling and distance education • A structured curriculum in which courses build upon each other • Extra workshops on tools and standard practices • Data driven mentoring • Building a sense of community through special programs • Outreach through community-based groups • Recognizing that students educational goals may be very career driven • Certain specialized programs may seem more “accessible” to women or minorities

12. Amy Csizmar Dalal Creating positive classroom environments • Associate Professor of Computer Science, Carleton College • Co-chair of MinneWIC (regional women in computing celebration)

13. Creating an Engaging Classroom  @ Carleton (Intro CS) • Level the playing field with language • not many students come in knowing Python • Language choice matters! • print("hello") vs public class HelloWorld{ public static void main... • Pair programmingmakes programming less "scary" esp @ the start • Role modeling (TAs, lab assts, student leaders) • "TA looks like me"/sensitivity training • Choose interesting and engaging problems • cryptography, image processing, graphics, earthquake data, ...

14. Creating an Engaging CS Experience  @ Carleton • "Flatter" class structure • Intro --> Data Structures OR Software Design OR Org&Arch OR Math of CS • CS2 != Weed-out course •  remove the stigma:  word of mouth, etc. • Minimal pre-reqs for (most) electives •  makes it easy for non-majors to take many CS courses---great recruitment strategy! • Challenges: • creating a culture from scratch • spaces (labs, lounges) less than ideal

15. Associate Professor, Graduate Program Coordinator, Software Engineering @ Rochester Institute of Technology • Focus on pre-college outreach for girls and students with disabilities Stephanie LudiInclusion in the classroom

16. Best Practices • Many best practices help all students, including students who are disabled. • Announcements should be in writing and verbally stated. • Clear instructions and expectations on assignments, tests, etc. • Avoid use of red-green for color coding on the whiteboard • Use of class web site for class materials and announcements. • Call the student by name as they may not be able to see you or read your body language. • Expectations for the course should not change for disabled students.

17. Strategies: Disabled Students • Whenever possible work with the student and the disabled student services office BEFORE the term. • Try to have the text selected in advance of the term (in case a non-print version needs to be acquired) • Use accessible media (e.g. captioned videos, documents) • Set up of lab computer/software to work with assistive technology (e.g. screen reader, adjustable desk) • Software such as Visual Studio and Eclipse have good accessibility • Proprietary software may have issues • Test/Lab practicum accommodations may require extra time or alternative means of recording answers • Most accommodations are inexpensive and take little time to do. • DO NOT ask the student about their disability, focus on the accommodation • Department and course websites should be accessible (W3C Accessibility standards). • Include discussion about working with disabled students as part of TA training

18. Strategies: Disabled Students • If a sign language interpreter is assigned to the class or if a student reads lips, be sure that you do not “speak to the whiteboard” • If you need to meet with a deaf/hard of hearing student or a student with a severe speech impediment you can communicate via the whiteboard or IM if needed for understandability. • Always speak directly to the disabled student, not at their notetaker, aide, friend, or interpreter.

19. Graduate Research & Teaching Assistant,   UMass Amherst • Faculty diversity committee • CS Women's Group Megan Olsen

20. Getting Involved in Teaching as a TA • Take a class on teaching • Get the position you want! • Talk to professor you will TA for • Talk to professor in charge of assigning TAs • There may be 1 credit or even 3 credit classes you could teach on your own • Make your intentions clear! • Summer teaching at other colleges & universities is also an option • A great way to help encourage more diverse people to continue studying computer science!

21. Helping Diversity as a TA -  Things you may control • Be aware of diversity teaching tips • Be aware of your students if you're teaching a lab • Know what to do if a student appears to be struggling • There are more types of diversity than the ones you can see physically • Grade fairly.  Put extra effort into grading fairly, especially if you are new to grading. • Be willing to get advice from faculty members!

22. Helping Diversity as a TA -  Things you may NOT control • Seemingly unfair policies set by the professor or department - what can you do? what should you do? • You have a grader, who doesn't seem to grade fairly

23. Outreach • Find events in your community or your department where you can help teach computers to a diverse set of people • Will give you teaching experience • Will help diversity • Will open up more opportunities than you expected! •  Get involved in your department! • You may be able to be a student member of a faculty Diversity committee, or similar group that works toward increasing diversity in your department  • Your experiences will be invaluable! Share them!

24. Questions for the panel? http://tinyurl.com/CSEDDiversity