Author(s):
Need:Early CS courses, while critical to building a strong CS foundation, are also significant points of attrition in CS programs. There is strong need for new technologies and learning materials that can engage today’s CS majors.Guiding Questions:Does the developed framework engage and positively impact CS majors in their early and core CS courses? Does the project present clear evidence of its impact?Outcomes:– We have developed BRIDGES, a framework targeted at engaging Computer Science majors in early core courses, so as to ensure they see the potential of the discipline and help retention in the long-term.– BRIDGES engages students through the use of real-world data and visualizations in course assignments through an easy to use programming interface.– Extensive collection of data through surveys, pre/post tests indicate strong positive impact of BRIDGES on CS majors in core coursesBroader Impacts:– In use for nearly eight years, BRIDGES has impacted over 3000 students in CS courses across more than 20 academic institutions– Impacted institutions include universities, 4 year colleges, community colleges and high schools).– BRIDGES is fully open source and available for use by any institution with support provided by the investigators
Coauthors
Kalpathi Subramanian, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC; Erik Saule, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC; Jamie Payton, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
