Exploring the pathways: Using transition theory to understand the strategies undergraduate computing students leverage as transfer students
Conference
Batten, J, Strong, AC, Ross, M et al. (2022). Exploring the pathways: Using transition theory to understand the strategies undergraduate computing students leverage as transfer students
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Batten, J, Strong, AC, Ross, M et al. (2022). Exploring the pathways: Using transition theory to understand the strategies undergraduate computing students leverage as transfer students
.
As described in this Complete Research paper, prior research suggests that to diversify the computer science profession, educational scholars need to investigate and explore alternative pathways into the field. The 2-year to 4-year institutional pathway can serve as one such pathway, mainly due to the pragmatic allure of a 2-year program to first-generation college students-including but not limited to Black and Hispanic students. This research inquiry explored the unique and often symbiotic relationship between one 2-year college and one 4-year university. To better understand this alternative pathway, the following research questions were posed: 1) what are the experiences of students at critical transition points from a 2-year college to 4-year computer science programs, 2) what are the strategies invoked by students that help their transitions, and 3) what types of support do students use and benefit from during their transitions? To answer these questions, we leveraged a cross-sectional approach to explore the perspectives at multiple points within the 2-year to 4-year institutional pathway. While a longitudinal study would observe one subject over a period of time, often taking years, a cross-sectional inquiry observes multiple subjects on the same trajectory at different snapshots of time. To further ground the study, we used Anderson, Goodman, and Schlossberg's Transition Theory as the guiding and analytical frameworks. The team identified three critical transition points along the pathway to a bachelor of science in computer science: the start of the 2-year institution, the end of a 2-year institution, and the start of a 4-year institution. We then recruited students who were at each of those transition points, resulting in ten student interviews. We found that students utilized a variety of constructive coping strategies and support structures that enabled them to successfully make their way through a computer science 2-year to 4-year institutional pathway. Strong partnerships, including transfer orientations and bridge advising, between 2-year and 4-year institutions were helpful for computing Hispanic/Latinx transfer students in navigating the transition between the two institutions. The results of this work have implications for policy and procedures at both the 2-year and 4-year institutions to smooth the transition for a more diverse population in computing.
