Board 63: Work in Progress: Community College Student Experiences with Interdisciplinary Computing Modules in Introductory Biology and Statistics Courses
- Conference
- Location
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Portland, Oregon
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2024
- Start Date
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June 23, 2024
- End Date
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July 12, 2024
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Computers in Education Division (COED)
- Tagged Topic
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Diversity
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/47061
Paper Authors
Valerie A Carr San Jose State University
Valerie Carr earned a PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. She is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at San Jose State University where she conducts research regarding learning and memory across the lifespan and teaches courses in interdisciplinary computing.
Jennifer Avena University of Northern Colorado
Assistant Professor at University of Northern Colorado in the Department of Biological Sciences
Maureen Smith
Dr. Smith received her BA in Psychology from U.C. Davis and her Ph.D in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University. Dr. Smith is a Professor of Child and Adolescent Development in the Lurie College of Education at San Jose State University. She has
Wendy Lee San Jose State University
Dr. Wendy Lee is an assistant professor and the graduate advisor for the MS Bioinformatics program at San Jose State University. With a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics from UC Santa Cruz, an MS in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from SJSU, and a BMath in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo, Canada, she brings over a decade of industry experience in developing bioinformatics pipelines and enterprise software. Her research applies bioinformatics methods to analyze next-generation sequencing data for genomic, transcriptomic, and metagenomic studies. Passionate about promoting diversity in computing and STEM, she serves as a faculty advisor for SJSU Girls Who Code College Loop and the SJSU Bioinformatics Club.
David Schuster San Jose State University
David Schuster is a Professor of Psychology at San José State University and Principal Investigator at the Virtual Environments, Cognition, and Training Research (VECTR) Lab. He earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Central Florida, specializing in Applied Experimental and Human Factors Psychology. Dr. Schuster’s research centers on understanding individual and shared cognition in complex environments. He is faculty in the MA Program in Research and Experimental Psychology and the MS Program in Human Factors/Ergonomics. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in research methods and statistics, as well as undergraduate human factors and general psychology.
Belle Wei San Jose State University
Belle Wei is Carolyn Guidry Chair in Engineering Education and Innovative Learning at San José State University (SJSU). Previous roles include: Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at California State University, Chico; a decade of service as
Abstract
Interdisciplinary professionals with both domain and computing skills are in high demand in our increasingly digital workplace. Universities have begun offering interdisciplinary computing degrees to meet this demand, but many community college students are not provided learning experiences that foster their self-efficacy in pursuing them. The Applied Programming Experiences (APEX) program aims to address this issue by embedding computing modules into introductory biology and statistics courses at community colleges. Here, we describe an initial cohort of instructors who adopted APEX modules and then provide preliminary evidence of significant increases in students’ interest and confidence in applied computing after experience with these modules. These findings suggest that embedding programming exercises in introductory biology and statistics classes can have a significant impact on students’ perceptions of computing. We will continue to assess the experiences of both instructors and students as our program expands, in turn allowing us to improve the APEX program and encourage nationwide adoption of embedding computing into popular introductory community college courses.
Carr, V. A., & Avena, J., & Smith, M., & Lee, W., & Schuster, D., & Wei, B. (2024, June), Board 63: Work in Progress: Community College Student Experiences with Interdisciplinary Computing Modules in Introductory Biology and Statistics Courses Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47061
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