Broadening Participation in STEM with Virtual Research Experiences

 

POSTED ON Oct 01, 2020

 

According to the Computing Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institutions (CAHSI), by 2030, Hispanics will represent more than 20% of those who earn degrees and certifications that lead to employment in computing and advancement in the field.

CAHSI was established in 2006 to address the low representation of Hispanics in computing. By 2018, the consortium of institutions had received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was designated as an INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discovers in Engineering and Science) alliance.

INCLUDES is one of the NSF’s Ten Big Ideas, with the goal of broadening participation in STEM fields by creating relationships among organizations.

This summer, CAHSI announced that thanks to funding from the  NSF’s Rapid Response Research (RAPID) program, a CAHSI project worked to establish best practices in computing education for virtual research experiences for undergraduates (REU).

The CAHSI project prepared students for virtual poster presentations; examined whether perceptions of computer science and career goals change after participation in a virtual  REU,  and identified the practices that worked and those that were less successful for virtual REUs.

CAHSI also said in the statement that a broader impact is the development of a model for virtual undergraduate research experiences that can benefit students who do not have the ability to travel to remote REUs because of family obligations.

“I was given a project to create an Alexa skill for a stroke scenario and connect it to a live 3D character for doctors and nurses in training to practice on,” UTEP junior Vivian Sanchez said in a statement.

“Before now, I would have never tried to create an Alexa skill and I never would have tried to use video game software to create 3D characters. Being part of the CAHSI vREU program has been a wonderful experience that I am so grateful to be a part of.”

The program concluded Sept. 18, 2020.