Equitable Grading in a Computing Education Course
This project centers around the development of a computing education elective course for seniors and juniors in college. The goal of the course is to expose students to some of the foundational work conducted in computing education research, as well as provide them with an opportunity to learn and implement qualitative research methods. An important component of this course is that it will use equitable grading policies, which are policies that seek to address the inequity of traditional grading methods, and instead assess students’ work based only on their mastery of the content. Therefore, a key goal for the research project is to investigate existing equitable grading policies and develop assignments for this course that can be graded in accordance with the ethos of these policies.
Students can expect to gain knowledge of: the field of computing education research, qualitative research methods, and equitable grading policies in higher education.
ESSAY PROMPT: Reflect on your own experiences in computing courses (or in all your courses more broadly). What are some research questions or ideas you have that you could explore to better understand or improve students' experiences in those courses?
Computing education is a young and exciting field of research, and equitable grading in particular has been a topic of ongoing conversation in recent years. The goal of improving students' experiences in their computing courses has never been more important, as computer science struggles to recruit and adequately support a diverse group of students and professionals. Prof Vidushi's work centers around broadening participation in computing, a timely and important concern.
This research group is also young -- in fact, so young that you would be the first members! Prof Vidushi is super excited to be working with enthusiastic students to kick off the research program this summer.