Collaborative Research: Using Tutorial-Based Active E-Learning to Broaden Participation and Enhance Scientific Computing Skills in a Seismology Context

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving computational thinking and scientific computing skills of advanced undergraduate students. It will do so by developing a large-enrollment, asynchronous, open access, online computational workshop. Such training is important to ensure that future scientists develop the knowledge and skills they need to tackle computer- and data-intensive scientific problems of national importance, such as climate change.

This project will provide more than 1200 advanced undergraduates with computational training in a seismological context. The training will build on and refine a pilot tutorial-based, active e-learning experience called the Seismology Skill Building Workshop. The project also aims to generate a more successful, inclusive, and satisfying online learning experience that can be exported to other STEM disciplines.

Because the workshop offers advanced coursework online without fees or prerequisites, it is likely to increase the participation of diverse undergraduates and other learners in computing. In fact, based on data from the pilot workshop, this project will reach many students from communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through its research efforts, the project intends to increase understanding about how diverse groups of students engage with and benefit from the tutorial-based active e-learning approach. By identifying workshop features that attract diverse audiences and promote retention, learning, and satisfaction, the project can also define a framework that other STEM communities can use to develop similar technical training efforts.

A preliminary Seismology Skill Building Workshop was offered in 2020 by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, an NSF-funded university consortium that operates the seismology community data and equipment facility. The pilot workshop was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and reached more than 700 students, many more than anticipated and with higher diversity than typical in-person computing courses.

Through the pilot workshop, the project team identified challenges and gathered data about workshop effectiveness. This project will investigate the resulting research questions, which are important within and beyond seismology: 1) To what extent does this online scientific computing training model enhance participant learning and behavior? 2) What are the key influences on retention and performance for advanced undergraduates in the online scientific computing training model and can new interventions improve efficacy? 3) To what degree do the elements of the tutorial-based active e-learning approach contribute to learning? 4) How can the value of the Seismology Skill Building Workshop and its positioning within the seismology learning ecosystem be optimized to ensure sustainability?

These questions will be addressed through a multi-year, mixed methods research investigation that includes development of instruments for summative assessment of computational thinking and programming within a disciplinary context, improved characterization of assignment question types to examine performance trends, and correlation analysis of participant activity and performance data. Expert reviews of the curriculum and community focus groups will be conducted to ensure sustainability of the Seismology Skill Building Workshop.

The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. This project is in the Engaged Student Learning track, through which the IUSE program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.

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.