CAREER: Investigating the Use of Empathy-Building Interventions in Experiential Computing Education

Rochester Institute Of Tech, Rochester NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This project aims to serve the national interest by understanding how to teach students to create inclusive and unbiased software. The project focuses on the development of empathy-building interventions and the study of their impact on students. It is hypothesized that empathy-creating interventions will advance experiential computing education by increasing student understanding and motivation of computing topics and will result in the development of more equitable and inclusive software. This project will generate knowledge regarding the impact of empathy-creating interventions in software engineering, the most effective methods for creating empathy, and appropriate methodologies for including empathy-creating interventions in experiential computing education. The proposed work will be the first known substantial effort to develop and evaluate empathy-creating interventions in experiential computing education. The specific objectives addressed by the project include: 1) understanding the benefits and impacts of empathy-creating interventions in experiential computing education, 2) recognizing appropriate methodologies to include empathy-creating interventions in experiential computing education, and 3) understand if experiential empathy-creating interventions can help to reduce bias. This work will example the effectiveness of two forms of interventions in building empathy: experience- and expression-based interventions. Experience-based interventions allow the perceiver to encounter a scenario through the target’s perspective using either a hands-on or theoretical activity. Expression-based interventions teach participants to recognize the internal states of the participant and respond appropriately. To address the defined research objectives and collect data for analysis, students will use the created interventions in a diverse range of classes including both foundational and more advanced computing courses. The interventions will also be included in non-traditional classroom environments, such online course offerings and outreach events for high school students. Outcomes for this project will contribute to the foundational understanding of experiential education from a theoretical and practical perspective, benefiting a variety of topics in computing education, including general computing, accessibility, artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomy, and human-computer interaction. This CAREER award is supported by NSF's IUSE:EHR Program which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all 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.