skip to main content
10.1145/2445196.2445228acmconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagessigcseConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

A cascading mentoring pedagogy in a CS service learning course to broaden participation and perceptions

Published: 06 March 2013 Publication History

Abstract

This study reports on the design, implementation, and evaluation of a service-learning course based on a "cascading mentoring" model linking together the faculty, administration, and undergraduates of an urban university's computer science department with local high school students. We present findings from surveys and post-interviews that illustrate undergraduates' and high school students' experiences in the program and how their perceptions of computing and mentoring changed based upon the outreach. In our discussion, we focus on the institutional and conceptual challenges of implementing the community service course within the university's computer science department, while also highlighting the learning opportunities for streamlining such a model for future iterations.

References

[1]
Astrachan, O., Briggs, A. 2012. The CS Principles Project. ACM Inroads, 3, 2, 38--42.
[2]
Barker, L., McDowell, C., and Kalahar, K. 2009. Exploring factors that influence computer science introductory course students to persist in the major. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 41, 2, 282--286.
[3]
Barton-Arwood, S., Jolivette, K. and Massey, N. G. 2000. Mentoring with elementary-age students. Intervention in School and Clinic, 36, 1, 36--44.
[4]
Biggers, M. Brauer, A. and Yilmaz, T. 2008. Student perceptions of computer science: A retention study comparing graduating seniors with CS leavers. In Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Portland, OR USA March 12-15). ACM, New York, NY, 402--406.
[5]
Boyer, K., E. Thomas, A. Rorrer, D. Cooper, and Vouk, M. 2010. Increasing technical excellence, leadership and commitment of computing students through identity-based mentoring. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 41st SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA March 10-13). ACM, New York, NY, 167--171.
[6]
Bransford, J., Brown, A., and Cocking., R. 2000. How People Learn. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
[7]
Bruckman, A., Biggers, M., Ericson, B., McKlin, T., Dimond, J., DiSalvo, B., Hewner, M., Ni, L. and Yardi. S. 2008. "Georgia Computes!": Improving the computing education pipeline. In Proceedings of the 41st SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA March 03-07). ACM, New York, NY, 86--90.
[8]
Carter, L. 2006. Why students with an apparent aptitude for computer science don't choose to major in computer science. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 38, 1, 27--31.
[9]
Dodds, Z., and Karp, L. 2006. The evolution of a computational outreach program to secondary school students. In Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Houston, Texas, USA March 01-05). ACM, New York, NY, 448--452.
[10]
Donaldson, S. 2011. Teaching computer science in a big questions framework. Journal of Computing Science in College, 26, 5, 72--79.
[11]
Egan, M. and Johnson, M. 2010. Service learning in introductory computer science. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 15th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (Bikent, Ankara, Turkey June 26-30).
[12]
Goode, J., Chamna, G., and Margolis, J. 2012. Beyond curriculum: The exploring computer science program. ACM Inroads, 3, 2, 47--53.
[13]
Guzdial, M. 2004. Programming environments for novices. In S. Fincher and M. Petre (Eds.), Computer Science Education Research (pp. 127--154). Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis.
[14]
Hart, S. 2006. Breaking literacy boundaries through critical service-learning: education for the silenced and marginalized, Mentoring and Tutoring, 14, 1, 17--32.
[15]
Howard, R. W. 2006. Bending towards justice: service learning and social capital as means to the tipping point, Mentoring and Tutoring, 14, 1, 5--15.
[16]
Hug, S., Thiry, H., and Tedford, P. 2011. Learning to love computer science: Peer leaders gain teaching skill, communicative ability and content knowledge in the CS classroom. In Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Dallas, TX USA March 09-12). ACM, New York, NY, 201--206.
[17]
Kafai, Y. B., Desai, S., Peppler, K., Chiu, G. and Moya, J. 2008. Mentoring partnerships in a community technology center: A Constructionist approach for fostering equitable service learning. Mentoring & Tutoring, 16, 2, 194--201.
[18]
Kelleher, C., and Pausch, R. 2005. Lowering the barriers to programming: A taxonomy of programming environments and languages for novice programmers. ACM Computing Surveys, 37, 2, 83--137.
[19]
Lamb, T.A. 2005. An imperfect but useful tool: The retrospective pretest. The Evaluation Exchange,11(2). Retrieved July 5th, 2012 at http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/eval/issue30/ ttp://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/eval/issue30/spotlight.html.
[20]
McIver, W., and Rachell, T. 2002. Social informatics and service learning as teaching models. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 21, 3, 24--31.
[21]
Papert, S. 1980. Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. New York, NY: Basic Books.
[22]
Roberts, A. 2000. Mentoring revisited: A phenomenological reading of the literature. Mentoring and Tutoring, 8, 2, 145--170.
[23]
Rosmaita, B. 2007. Making service learning accessible to computer scientists. In Proceedings of the 38th Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Covington, KY, USA March 07-10). ACM, New York, NY, 541--545.
[24]
Sanderson, P. 2003. Where's (the) computer science in service-learning? Junior Computer Science College, 19, 1 (Oct. 2003), 83--89.
[25]
Villalpando, O., and Solorzano, D. G. 2005. The role of culture in college preparation programs: a review of the research literature. In W. Tierney, Z. Corwin and J. Colyar (Eds.), Preparing for College: Nine Elements of Effective Outreach. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
[26]
Walker, G. 1996. Social change one on one: the new mentoring movement, American Prospect, 7, 27, 75--81.

Cited By

View all
  • (2024)Faculty, Student, and Community Partner Experiences in Computer and Information Science Service LearningACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/365467824:3(1-26)Online publication date: 27-Mar-2024
  • (2024)WIP: A Systematic Approach to Screen and Align Service-Learning Projects for Optimal Student Outcomes2024 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE61694.2024.10893515(1-5)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2024
  • (2024)WIP: DEPICT for Out-of-School Time (DEPICT4OST): Guiding Undergraduates in the Development and Implementation of Computational-Infused Writing Activities2024 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE61694.2024.10893316(1-5)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2024
  • Show More Cited By

Index Terms

  1. A cascading mentoring pedagogy in a CS service learning course to broaden participation and perceptions

      Recommendations

      Comments

      Information & Contributors

      Information

      Published In

      cover image ACM Conferences
      SIGCSE '13: Proceeding of the 44th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
      March 2013
      818 pages
      ISBN:9781450318686
      DOI:10.1145/2445196
      Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

      Sponsors

      Publisher

      Association for Computing Machinery

      New York, NY, United States

      Publication History

      Published: 06 March 2013

      Permissions

      Request permissions for this article.

      Check for updates

      Author Tags

      1. community service
      2. mentoring

      Qualifiers

      • Research-article

      Conference

      SIGCSE '13
      Sponsor:

      Acceptance Rates

      SIGCSE '13 Paper Acceptance Rate 111 of 293 submissions, 38%;
      Overall Acceptance Rate 1,787 of 5,146 submissions, 35%

      Contributors

      Other Metrics

      Bibliometrics & Citations

      Bibliometrics

      Article Metrics

      • Downloads (Last 12 months)15
      • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0
      Reflects downloads up to 07 Mar 2025

      Other Metrics

      Citations

      Cited By

      View all
      • (2024)Faculty, Student, and Community Partner Experiences in Computer and Information Science Service LearningACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/365467824:3(1-26)Online publication date: 27-Mar-2024
      • (2024)WIP: A Systematic Approach to Screen and Align Service-Learning Projects for Optimal Student Outcomes2024 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE61694.2024.10893515(1-5)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2024
      • (2024)WIP: DEPICT for Out-of-School Time (DEPICT4OST): Guiding Undergraduates in the Development and Implementation of Computational-Infused Writing Activities2024 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE61694.2024.10893316(1-5)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2024
      • (2023)CISing Up Service Learning: A Systematic Review of Service Learning Experiences in Computer and Information ScienceACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/361077623:3(1-56)Online publication date: 12-Sep-2023
      • (2022)Recruiting K-12 youth into computer scienceACM Inroads10.1145/352491613:2(22-29)Online publication date: 17-May-2022
      • (2022)A Joyful Collaboration Through a Cascading Mentorship Model in Art and DanceDance Education in Practice10.1080/23734833.2022.21257059:2(10-15)Online publication date: 19-Oct-2022
      • (2020)Light-weight student-driven workshops for positive attitude change towards programming in early collegeJournal of Computing Sciences in Colleges10.5555/3417626.341763235:7(61-73)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2020
      • (2020)Making AppsACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/342571020:4(1-23)Online publication date: 12-Nov-2020
      • (2020)Formal Methods and Computing Identity-based Mentorship for Early Stage ResearchersProceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education10.1145/3328778.3366957(135-141)Online publication date: 26-Feb-2020
      • (2020)The Impact of Undergraduate Mentorship on Student Satisfaction and Engagement, Teamwork Performance, and Team Dysfunction in a Software Engineering Group ProjectProceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education10.1145/3328778.3366835(128-134)Online publication date: 26-Feb-2020
      • Show More Cited By

      View Options

      Login options

      View options

      PDF

      View or Download as a PDF file.

      PDF

      eReader

      View online with eReader.

      eReader

      Figures

      Tables

      Media

      Share

      Share

      Share this Publication link

      Share on social media