Recent years have seen a growing recognition of the national STEM workforce shortage. Although problems abound in all STEM disciplines, the shortage is particularly acute in information and communications technology. This is especially true in artificial intelligence (AI), a field of computer science that focuses on the design of computing systems that solve problems involving human-like capabilities including reasoning, learning, and natural language. Engaging middle-grade students, especially those from underserved populations, in artificial intelligence through the creation of lifelike AI for digital games offers a promising approach to encouraging students to pursue innovative computing careers. The AI Play project will engage students in a broad range of computing activities centered on creating AI for games. The project will see the development of a learning environment and curriculum that introduces artificial intelligence into middle school emphasizing connections to the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards. The AI Play project will host a series of five-day camps for underserved populations where students will engage in hands-on learning activities under the guidance of teachers and undergraduate computer scientists, who will serve as mentors and role models as the students engage in artificial intelligence, while designing and developing AI for games. The final year of the project will see an evaluation of the AI Play program and its impact on students������������������ learning and interest in artificial intelligence.

The RET Site at NC State University will immerse a diverse group of teachers in a vibrant research community building and analyzing cutting-edge socially relevant and human-centered applications including games, tutors, and analytics platforms. We will recruit teacher teams to include at least one who is learning to teach introductory computer science (e.g. Computer Science Principles), as well as STEM teachers and one teacher or undergraduate with significant programming experience. Teachers will learn about the socially relevant applications of computing and how computer science can be used within almost all careers, and they will develop lessons that help raise student interest in computing while teaching disciplinary content. We will connect teachers to resources from the STARS Computing Corps, an NSF-funded national consortium of institutions dedicated to broadening participation in computing. We will to create a supportive culture of collaboration while promoting individual contributions to research through just-in-time training throughout the summer.

The STARS Computing Corps Alliance for Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) will serve as national resource for transforming computer science education through 1) building capacity among faculty and students for creating an equitable and inclusive learning climate in their computing departments, 2) building capacity among faculty and students for conducting research and taking action to address BPC challenges, and 3) promoting persistence in computing degree programs, particularly among groups that are underrepresented in computing. A multi-year study provides evidence that shows that the STARS Computing Corps approach is effective for supporting these goals, and indicates the value of a community of practice that engages computing faculty and students at institutions of higher education (IHEs) with a shared commitment to take action to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in computing. This proposal seeks to further develop STARS as a national resource that builds broader capacity for research and practice, ignites action, and fosters a wider academic community centered on building capacity for inclusive computing education experiences, environments, and practices in higher education.

This study abroad project has been created in collaboration with NC State's Women and Minority Engineering Program (WMEP). The goal is to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who participate in study abroad programs with a STEM focus. At NCSU, there are only two faculty-led programs that are open to Engineering students and they are both to Western Europe. This program will expand not just the types of students who travel abroad but will also diversify the location as well as the variety of engineering problems to be studied, better preparing students for a global workforce.

Conference Proposal: 2022 CISE EWF PI Meeting and REU Site PI meeting

The NC State Computer Science Department had doubled undergraduate enrollments and the percentage of women in our program between 2010 and 2020. With this growth, we are challenged with understanding persistence and retention of our students, particularly women. The goal of the diagnostic grant program is to collect and analyze demographic data to better understand where our students are coming from, and if they leave the program, where do they go. The results of the data analysis will provide insights into how we can better support our students to increase persistence, retention, and success.

The Early Research Scholars Program (ERSP) is a group-based, dual-mentored research structure designed to provide a supportive and inclusive research experience using equity-based practices to grow the confidence and foundational skills of early-career students, particularly African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and women. For this NSF subaward from UC San Diego, we plan to add ERSP to our course catalog and start implementing it in Fall 2021. As part of their full-year apprenticeship, teams of students will learn about graduate school, be matched to research mentors, observe the mentor's lab, participate in the ERSP course, and propose an independent research project.