The Effect Of A Computing-Focused Linked-Courses Learning Community On Minority And Female Students, Amber Settle, James Doyle, Theresa Steinbach
Sep 2017
The Effect Of A Computing-Focused Linked-Courses Learning Community On Minority And Female Students, Amber Settle, James Doyle, Theresa Steinbach
Amber Settle
While enrollments in computing degrees and courses have grown rapidly in the past decade, both female and minority male students remain underrepresented in computing programs. This makes recruitment and retention of these populations a continuing concern. Affinity for a major is connected to student retention, and learning communities have proven effective for this purpose. We present an evaluation of a three-year linked-courses learning community in which we measure pre- to post-quarter changes in student attitudes and resource utilization. We find that participants in the learning community are significantly more likely to report being a part of a group of programmers …
Evaluating A Linked-Courses Learning Community For Development Majors, Amber Settle, John Lalor, Theresa Steinbach
Sep 2015
Evaluating A Linked-Courses Learning Community For Development Majors, Amber Settle, John Lalor, Theresa Steinbach
Amber Settle
Despite a rebound in enrollments, men of color and women remain underrepresented in computing. The literature indicates that student-student interaction and affinity for the computing major are important factors for retention of underrepresented groups in computing, and learning communities connect students with each other and faculty to improve collaboration, interaction, enthusiasm. Despite their long history and promise for addressing retention, computing-focused learning communities remain rare. Here we present an evaluation of a linked-courses learning community for men of color and women majoring in a development-focused area of computing. We measure student attitudes and affinity for their major via a survey …
Institutional Support For Computing Faculty Research Productivity: Does Gender Matter?, Monica M. Mcgill, Amber Settle
Mar 2012
Institutional Support For Computing Faculty Research Productivity: Does Gender Matter?, Monica M. Mcgill, Amber Settle
Amber Settle
We address the question of how male and female computing faculty in the U.S. and Canada perceive research requirements and institutional support for promotion and tenure. Via a survey sent to approximately 7500 computing faculty at the 256 institutions that participate in the annual Taulbee Survey, our results identify differences in reported tenure and promotion requirements, including the number of publications required during the probationary period, the importance of the scope of publication venues, the importance of publishing in non-refereed journals, and the importance of collaborative presentations. Differences were also discovered in institutional support and the satisfaction levels with that …
Rethinking Advising: Developing A Proactive Culture To Improve Retention, Amber Settle, John Glatz
Oct 2011
Rethinking Advising: Developing A Proactive Culture To Improve Retention, Amber Settle, John Glatz
Amber Settle
In 2009 DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media (DePaul CDM) discovered a significant lag in undergraduate retention rates as well as four, five and six-year graduation rates as compared to other major colleges at the university. DePaul CDM’s investment in online student service resources had over time caused the unintentional reinvention of the college advising office into one that supported a very limited number of students, focusing primarily on students either in academic distress or students nearing graduation.
In an effort to modify the advising culture at DePaul CDM into a more proactive one, a strategic student service …
Engaging Game Design Students Using Peer Evaluation, Amber Settle, Charles Wilcox, Chad Settle
Oct 2011
Engaging Game Design Students Using Peer Evaluation, Amber Settle, Charles Wilcox, Chad Settle
Amber Settle
Many information technology educators have worked in recent years to develop courses to attract students to the field. As faculty achieve success with technical courses designed to be appeal to a broad audience, it can be hard to maintain the initial excitement particularly as multiple sections of the courses are taught on a continuing basis. In this article we describe a project that added peer evaluation to an assessment in a game design course with a large non-major audience. While controversial, peer evaluation has shown some promise in motivating students to work harder and in improving certain key skills. Consistent …
A Hybrid Approach To Projects In Gaming Courses, Amber Settle, Joe Linhoff, André Berthiaume
Feb 2008
A Hybrid Approach To Projects In Gaming Courses, Amber Settle, Joe Linhoff, André Berthiaume
Amber Settle
We describe an approach to projects used in game development courses that supports learning individual skills while also developing team skills. Early assignments focus on developing individual skills in coding and content creation, and when those skills are honed, students form teams to work on a larger and more complex game. Classes that use a hybrid approach, that is individual projects that build toward a large group project, allow students to solidly learn game development skills required of gaming graduates and yet stimulate creativity and challenge students to move beyond their comfort zone.
