Nannette Napier’s research while affiliated with Georgia Gwinnett College and other places

While many efforts exist to recruit underrepresented minorities in computing, retention of those that choose the field, still remains a challenge. To retain more women in computing at an open access, baccalaureate degree granting institution, the authors have been hosting a programming boot camp (PBC) for women IT and MIS majors at the institution since May 2014. PBC is a holistic program that focuses on academic preparation, professional development and mentoring. Freshman and sophomore women are invited to participate in this annual PBC each year. While some candidates accept the invitation to participate in the boot camp, some elect not to. The goal of this study is to investigate if participants progress and persist at a different rate than the invited candidates (non-participants) in their chosen field of study. This study compares the academic progression and retention data of candidates vs. participants over a period of three years (2014-2016). The authors look at measures such as current academic status, graduation rates, current (or graduation) major, and completion rates of programming sequence. Preliminary findings indicate that recruitment is a challenge without any incentives for participation. While participation in PBC alone cannot impact retention, this study investigates if students' participation or non-participation can be an indicator of their persistence in their chosen program. This information can be further used to create targeted initiatives meeting students' needs.

Underrepresented students in computing can face critical challenges to retention including lack of prior exposure to programming and feelings of isolation due to a non-diverse classroom. Consequently, students may delay enrolling in programming courses, which interrupts progress towards their degree and decreases confidence in their ability to succeed in college and computing careers. One strategy to overcome the perceived and actual difficulties undergraduate students encounter in an introductory programming course is to participate in a summer Programming Boot Camp (PBC). PBC is a short-term, intense event focused on improving Java programming skills, providing career and professional development, and building a stronger network with faculty, peers, and industry experts. In this paper, we describe the structure and format of a weeklong PBC held at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) for female computing undergraduates. We report on the impacts of the program in terms of increasing confidence, improving programming skills, and encouraging student engagement.

In this article, the authors examine the impact of participation in a national community for broadening participation in computing that engages college students in computing-related service projects. Results of their study show many benefits for undergraduate computing students who engage in such projects, including academic, career, and personal benefits, with students who are underrepresented in computing benefitting more than others. Results also suggest that that an annual conference centered on training and reflection on service learning projects can help build a strong sense of community among students who otherwise wouldn't have access to a similar group of peers. These findings establish empirical support for the Students and Technology in Academia, Research, and Service Computing Corps model of engagement, a flexible approach that can be applied across a variety of institutional types to positively impact underrepresented students in computing.

This workshop will provide details on how to plan and run non-residential, week-long computing summer camps for 4th-12th grade students. Georgia Tech has been offering computing summer camps since 2004. These camps are financially self-sustaining and effective. Items used in the camps include: CS Unplugged, LightBot, Scratch, Alice, LEGO robots (WeDo, NXT, EV3, and Tetrix), EarSketch, and App Inventor. Georgia Tech helped start other computing camps at eleven other colleges and universities in Georgia from 2007 to 2010 as part of Georgia Computes! NSF BPC grant. Since 2014, as part of the Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) NSF grant we have also helped institutions start or expand summer computing camps in South Carolina, Massachusetts, and California. The workshop will include presentation about application forms, a timeline, sample agendas, sample flyers, budget plans, a planning checklist, suggested projects, surveys, pre and post-tests, evaluation results, lessons learned, and more. Laptops are recommended for this workshop.

This project addresses the issue of retaining women in Information Technology (IT) at an open access institution. To meet the goal of retention, we focused on supporting students' learning and mentoring needs. Female IT majors and minors were recruited and participated in a weeklong summer boot camp. At the boot camp they participated in Java programming sessions, various professional development and peer mentoring sessions and a field trip. These activities were aimed to increase not only the participants' knowledge of programming, but they were also designed to increase the participants' confidence, their knowledge of IT careers and fields of research and most importantly to form a community of support. Initial data collection shows that 61% of participants enrolled in a programming course following the boot camp, which is a crucial step in retention of majors and minors. Authors have also experienced an increase in the participants' engagement in an on-campus community building effort. Formal data analysis of pre and post surveys for evaluating changes in computing attitudes and engagement is currently being performed.

Programming Boot Camp is one strategy to overcome the perceived and actual difficulties undergraduate students encounter in an introductory programming course. It is estimated that of the over two million students starting computer science studies in universities and colleges all over the world in 1999, 33% dropped or failed their first programming course. Consequently, undergraduate students delay enrolling in programming courses, which interrupts progress toward their degree and decreases confidence in their ability to succeed in college and computing careers. Programming Boot Camp provides a combination of intense programming labs with professional development and community building activities to help increase confidence, create awareness of opportunities, and build a supporting peer network. How does this strategy work on different campuses with different demographics? Attendees will be able to connect with people who have implemented boot camp, are interested in sharing resources, and discussing how appropriate a boot camp would be for their students. Those who have already implemented a boot camp will be encouraged to share their curriculum, workshop strategies, and how effective they were in goals like: increasing the programming skills of the participants and their confidence in it, inspiring participants to persist in computing, and building a network of mentors and peers to support persistence in computing. Participants who seek to increase success in programming courses will be encouraged to discuss campus specific needs to gather input from those who have implemented boot camps and how they adapted the concept to their population and institutional culture.

This workshop will provide details on how to plan and run non-residential computing summer camps for 4th -- 12th grade students. Georgia Tech has been offering computing summer camps since 2004. These camps are financially self-sustaining and effective. Items used in past camps include: CS Unplugged, LightBot, Scratch, Alice, LEGO robots (WeDo, NXT, EV3, and Tetrix), EarSketch, and App Inventor. Georgia Tech helped start or expand other computing camps at eleven other colleges and universities in Georgia from 2007 to 2010 as part of Georgia Computes!. This last year as part of the Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) NSF grant we have also helped institutions start or expand summer computing camps in South Carolina, Massachusetts, and California. The workshop will distribute a link to forms, a timeline, sample agendas, sample flyers, budget plans, a planning checklist, suggested projects, surveys, pre and post-tests, evaluation results, lessons learned, and more. Laptops Recommended

Purpose – Although the potential of innovation networks that involve both university and industry actors is great variances in cultures, goals and knowledge poses significant challenges. To better understand management of such innovation networks, the authors investigate different strategies for balancing diversity. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – In this multiple case study, the authors draw on network and trading zone theory to examine the strategies of four research centers that govern university-industry innovation networks. Findings – The authors provide empirically grounded descriptions of strategies for balancing diversity in innovation processes, extend previous theorizations by suggesting two types of trading zones (transformative and performative), and identify four strategy configuration dimensions (means of knowledge trade, tie configuration, knowledge mobility mechanisms and types of trust). Research limitations/implications – Further research is needed on transferability of results when, e.g. cultural collaboration and communication patterns change, and performance implications of different configurations. The research provides conceptual tools for future research on the impact of different diversity strategies. Practical implications – The findings point to the importance of identifying desired types of innovation outcomes and designing the appropriate level of diversity. To implement the selected strategy, managers need to configure communication channels and strength of relationships, establish associated capacity for knowledge transfer and build appropriate levels of trust. Originality/value – While extant research has provided a solid understanding of benefits from diversity in boundary spanning innovation processes, this paper outlines strategies for managing associated challenges.

An engaging context has been shown to improve student motivation and performance in programming courses. Therefore, we incorporated six hands-on, supplementary, voluntary workshops (called Operation Java Blitz, or OJB) on subjects that were not exhaustively included in the current programming curriculum in Spring 2014. The poster will discuss the sessions, the initial results from 34 students, and future plans.

While research has shown that investments in IT capability may translate into improved firm performance, how and why they do is still a source of debate. Drawing on financial options thinking, recent research suggests that managers can support appropriate investment decisions by examining digital options. However, current research has not effectively translated the financial options construct into the IT domain, which makes it difficult to rigorously examine digital options. To address this void, we revisit general options theory and review current notions of digital options. To support understanding, we extend current theorizing by offering a rigorous conceptual foundation that defines the digital option lifecycle and relationships to neighboring constructs. To support practice, we present principles for examining digital options for a specific business process. To illustrate the detailed workings of the theory, we examine a production planning process in the dairy industry to arrive at a set of desirable and feasible IT capability investments. Our proposed theory supports managerial practice by offering a rigorous and actionable foundation for digital options thinking. It also sets an agenda for academic research by articulating theory-based constructs and principles that are subject to further empirical and theoretical investigation.