Lee, D., & Palea, D. (2022, August), Lightweight, Scalable, and Relational Learning Experiences as an Approach to Overcoming System-Level Challenges in Education  Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--42100

\bibitem{asee_peer_42100}
  Lee, D., \& Palea, D. (2022, August), \emph{Lightweight, Scalable, and Relational Learning Experiences as an Approach to Overcoming System-Level Challenges in Education}
  Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Minneapolis, MN.
  10.18260/1-2--42100

David Lee and Dustin Palea.  "Lightweight, Scalable, and Relational Learning Experiences as an Approach to Overcoming System-Level Challenges in Education".  2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN, 2022, August.  ASEE Conferences, 2022.  https://peer.asee.org/42100 Internet.  30 Jun, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_42100}
  David Lee and Dustin Palea.
  "Lightweight, Scalable, and Relational Learning Experiences as an Approach to Overcoming System-Level Challenges in Education".
  \emph{2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Minneapolis, MN, 2022, August}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2022.
  https://peer.asee.org/42100 Internet.  30 Jun, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_42100
author = "David Lee and Dustin Palea"
title = "Lightweight, Scalable, and Relational Learning Experiences as an Approach to Overcoming System-Level Challenges in Education"
booktitle = "2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2022"
month = "August"
address = "Minneapolis, MN"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/42100}
number = {10.18260/1-2--42100}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - In this paper, we report on a series of research projects that together motivate a larger idea: the design of lightweight, scalable, and relational learning experiences for overcoming system-level challenges in education. We start by discussing Exploratory Reading Groups, a program designed to expose students to the creative aspects of computer science and to enhance intrinsic motivation and purpose for learning through exploratory reading of research papers. Unlike traditional graduate student reading groups which focus on depth, our reading groups are designed for a broad exploration of ideas. More importantly for this paper, they are designed to be lightweight in time commitment, to be scalable and student-driven, and to foster supportive peer relationships. 

As we ran this program, we found that these design parameters not only led to our original goal of supporting creative exploration, but also resulted in the unexpected emergent benefit of facilitating student entry into undergraduate research experiences. There were three reasons for this. First, the lightweight nature of the program (~1-2 hours a week for 4 weeks) lowered entry barriers for busy students. Second, the scalable and student-driven nature of the program circumvented the obstacles of limited faculty time or staff resources common to many programs. Third, the relational nature of the program facilitated knowledge sharing and relational networks that helped to overcome the many systemic misalignments at the root of faculty-perceived barriers to undergraduate research, findings that came out of a series of interviews we conducted with STEM faculty on barriers to undergraduate research.

We conclude by proposing that the design of lightweight, scalable, and relational learning experiences may be an effective approach to overcoming system-level challenges in education and discuss a few examples of what that might look like and future directions. 
AU  - David Lee
AU  - Dustin Palea
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Lightweight, Scalable, and Relational Learning Experiences as an Approach to Overcoming System-Level Challenges in Education
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/42100
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--42100
ER  -