Asee peer logo

Exploring the pathways: Using transition theory to understand the strategies undergraduate computing students leverage as transfer students

Download Paper |

Conference

2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Publication Date

August 23, 2022

Start Date

June 26, 2022

End Date

June 29, 2022

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 11: Program Descriptions and Learning Analytics

Page Count

21

DOI

10.18260/1-2--41428

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/41428

Download Count

435

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Jasmine Batten Florida International University

visit author page

Jasmine Batten is a computer science Ph. D. student and computer science education graduate research assistant in the Knight School of Computing and Information Sciences (SCIS) and STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University. Additionally, she is a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow awarded in 2021 to support her research in broadening participation in computer science education. She received her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with honors in 2019 from Florida International University. She is dedicated to improving women and minoritized students’ retention and persistence in computer science. Her research interests include exploring inclusive pedagogical practices, implicit theories of intelligence, disciplinary culture, and their effects on women’s and minoritized women’s persistence in computer science. She is passionate about improving diversity and equity in computer science by conducting research that promotes inclusive learning environments. Her goal is to complete her Ph. D. and become a computer science (education) faculty member to continue serving the computer science education community through mentorship, research, and teaching.

visit author page

biography

Alexandra Strong Florida International University

visit author page

Alexandra Coso Strong works and teaches at the intersection of engineering education, faculty development, and complex systems design. Strong completed her doctorate in aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech in spring, 2014. While a doctoral student, Strong was a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow and a member of the Cognitive Engineering Center. The goal of her doctorate research was to improve students’ abilities to think more broadly about complex systems design and to take into account stakeholder-related considerations within their design projects. Prior to attending Georgia Tech, Strong received a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from MIT (2007) and a master’s degree in systems engineering from the University of Virginia (2010). For her master’s degree work, she developed a mixed methods research design to examine undergraduate engineering students’ prior knowledge about interdisciplinary approaches to design and problem-solving. Strong comes to FIU after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Georgia Tech’s Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) and three years as a faculty member at Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts. Strong’s research aims to improve the design of educational experiences for students by critically examining the work and learning environments of practitioners. Specifically, she focuses on (1) how to design and change educational and work systems through studies of practicing engineers and educators and (2) how to help students transition into, through and out of educational and work systems.

visit author page

biography

Monique Ross Florida International University

visit author page

Assistant Professor, Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences and STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University, research interests include broadening participation in computing through the exploration of: 1) race, gender, and identity in the academy and industry; 2) discipline-based education research that informs pedagogical practices that garner interest and retain women and minorities in computer-related fields. She uses her scholarship to challenge the perceptions of who belong in computing.

visit author page

biography

Elodie Billionniere Miami Dade Community College

visit author page

Dr. Billionniere is a Senior Associate Professor in the School of Engineering and Technology at Miami Dade College (MDC), where she leads the Cloud Computing Literacy Initiative. She has helped MDC secure over $3 million in federal funding the past three years for STEM and emerging technology education program.
Dr. Billionniere's leadership and mentoring have been celebrated and recognized, most recently with the 2021-2023 The Northern Trust Bank of Florida Endowed Teaching Chair and 2019 Women of Color STEM’s College-Level Promotion of Education Award.

visit author page

biography

Myrian Herlle Florida International University

visit author page

Myrian Herlle has been serving as an academic advisor for the
Knight Foundation School of Computer and Information Sciences
KFSCIS) at Florida International University (FIU) since 2014. She
is a doctoral student in Adult Education and Human Resource
Development (AE/HRD)at FIU. Her research interest is in underrepresented students' access, persistence, and success, including transfer students in STEM and Computer Science education. In addition,
she serves as the director of the Academic Success Initiative (ASI),
a tutoring service program for computer science students, which also functions as a platform for tutors' professional development and career readiness.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

As described in this Complete Research paper, prior research suggests that to diversify the computer science profession, educational scholars need to investigate and explore alternative pathways into the field. The 2-year to 4-year institutional pathway can serve as one such pathway, mainly due to the pragmatic allure of a 2-year program to first-generation college students—including but not limited to Black and Hispanic students. This research inquiry explored the unique and often symbiotic relationship between one 2-year college and one 4-year university. To better understand this alternative pathway, the following research questions were posed: 1) what are the experiences of students at critical transition points from a 2-year college to 4-year computer science programs, 2) what are the strategies invoked by students that help their transitions, and 3) what types of support do students use and benefit from during their transitions? To answer these questions, we leveraged a cross-sectional approach to explore the perspectives at multiple points within the 2-year to 4-year institutional pathway. While a longitudinal study would observe one subject over a period of time, often taking years, a cross-sectional inquiry observes multiple subjects on the same trajectory at different snapshots of time. To further ground the study, we used Anderson, Goodman, and Schlossberg’s Transition Theory as the guiding and analytical frameworks. The team identified three critical transition points along the pathway to a bachelor of science in computer science: the start of the 2-year institution, the end of a 2-year institution, and the start of a 4-year institution. We then recruited students who were at each of those transition points, resulting in ten student interviews. We found that students utilized a variety of constructive coping strategies and support structures that enabled them to successfully make their way through a computer science 2-year to 4-year institutional pathway. Strong partnerships, including transfer orientations and bridge advising, between 2-year and 4-year institutions were helpful for computing Hispanic/Latinx transfer students in navigating the transition between the two institutions. The results of this work have implications for policy and procedures at both the 2-year and 4-year institutions to smooth the transition for a more diverse population in computing.

Batten, J., & Strong, A., & Ross, M., & Billionniere, E., & Herlle, M. (2022, August), Exploring the pathways: Using transition theory to understand the strategies undergraduate computing students leverage as transfer students Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41428

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2022 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015