Advancing Undergraduate Computing Education through Consultancy-Based Experiential Learning and Foundational Course Redesign around Active Learning to Promote Career-Readiness

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving undergraduate computing education through the integration of active learning pedagogy and a consultancy-based experiential learning experience, connecting coursework with real-world applications and career pathways. The project addresses the importance of increasing student engagement, retention, persistence, and career readiness in computing disciplines, with emphasis on foundational courses as critical entry points for student learning and development. By embedding client-driven projects and competency-based active-learning instruction into the curriculum, the project plans to create a structured, career-focused educational ecosystem that supports student success and broadens participation in STEM. This Level 1 Engaged Student Learning project is significant because it advances evidence-based practices that connect academic content with professional skills and real-world problem solving. The project has the potential to improve undergraduate STEM outcomes and strengthen the computing careers pipeline. The goals and scope of the project are to investigate whether intentionally connecting course content with real-world applications and career pathways through active learning pedagogy and consultancy-based experiential learning improves student engagement, retention, persistence, and career readiness among undergraduate students in computing majors. The project plans to implement a two-pronged approach: (1) developing a consultancy-based experiential learning course in which students work on client-driven projects for internal and external partners, and (2) redesigning three foundational courses—Computational Thinking, Computer Programming I, and Computer Programming II—to incorporate competency-based learning, active-learning pedagogy, and integration of career-readiness competencies. A mixed-methods evaluation will assess outcomes using institutional data, surveys, focus groups, interviews, and course artifacts to examine impacts on student learning, persistence, and preparation for computing careers. The project will contribute to understanding how consultancy-based experiential learning models and redesigning foundational courses to promote active learning can be integrated to improve undergraduate computing education and ensure career-readiness. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the 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.