BPC-DP: BPC Education Hub: Resources and Research to Support Inclusive Mentoring and Teaching

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

There is a wealth of research affirming the critical importance of effective learning environments and supportive relationships with faculty on student success. However, faculty members and teaching assistants often receive little, if any, training on how their interactions with students may encourage or discourage student success. The lack of resources and structures to train individuals in teaching and mentoring practices is a barrier to meeting the country’s workforce needs. This project equips educators with the appropriate training to advance their knowledge and skills in understanding how to create and sustain effective learning environments for their students and mentees. The project addresses two critical positions within the computing community—teaching assistants (TAs) and prospective faculty members (current graduate students or postdoctoral scholars) because of their regular contact with students and their increasing responsibilities. The team will develop a landscape study of training in computing departments across the country, measure the effectiveness of such training interventions, and understand what barriers limit broader availability of training for teaching and mentoring. Through these interventions, the project has the potential to train a cadre of effective teachers and mentors who will shape current and future learning environments for all computing students. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.