Building student community in computing: how partnership with students can support engagement
3 June @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
We are looking forward to the June Seminar in our Education Seminar Series! This will take place at University of Edinburgh on Tuesday 3rd June.
Dr Fiona McNeill, Reader in Computing Education and Director of Students in Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, will hold a panel discussion with undergraduate students in Informatics.
Building community and sense of belonging in computing departments is notoriously challenging – with early-year classes that are often very large, students who often complete much of the work online, and significant differences in prior experience with the subject. Recognising these challenges, CompSoc – the main student society in Informatics – created a plan to introduce an Academic Family scheme into the school, where incoming students are put in families of 8-10, with 2-3 returning students acting as parents. The school partnered with CompSoc in the roll out, providing logistical support, guidance and resources.
In this talk, key students involved in the roll out, together with the Director of Students for the school, discuss our experiences in the first year and the lessons we have learned. We will discuss the research we have done with students in three categories: academic children, academic parents, and students who chose not to participate in the scheme, and present the key findings of this research, in terms of the value students see in such a scheme, the barriers to engagement and the ways in which they want us to take the scheme forward.
