The document discusses a program called Advanced Computing for Social Change that engages students in computing skills through socially relevant projects. Students worked in teams to analyze data and visualize evidence around issues like Black Lives Matter. Most participants were women and underrepresented minorities. Evaluations found the program empowered students to influence social change and facilitated teamwork skills. However, some students felt it did not meet their expectations and suggested improvements. Overall, teaching computing concepts through social issues provides an effective way to communicate across disciplines.

1. Advanced Computing for Social Change –
Educating and Engaging Our Students to
Compete in a Changing Workforce
Kelly Gaither, Texas Advanced Computing Center
Rosalia Gomez, Texas Advanced Computing Center
Linda Akli, Southeastern University Research Association
Ruby Mendenhall, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Marques Bland, Texas Advanced Computing Center
Susan Fratkin, Independent Consultant
Lorna Rivera, Georgia Tech University
Lizanne DeStefano, Georgia Tech University

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Innovation is Key!

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Inspiring Our Future Generations:

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Inspiring Our Future Generations:

5. Advanced Computing for Social Change
• Engage students through socially relevant
topics
• Curriculum Elements
– Storytelling – aids memory by putting information into an
emotional context
– Visualization – we remember 10% of what we hear, 65%
of what we see
– Team Science – research is becoming increasingly more
multidisciplinary
– Discovery Based Learning – active learning increases
mastery of technical skills
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6. SC16 Advanced Computing for
Social Change Challenge
• Data driven discussion to
confirm/debunk
perceptions/misperceptions on
Black Lives Matter
• Worked in four teams
– Identified their audience
– Identified their argument
– Presented results in teams using
evidence based analysis and
visualization
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7. Student Demographics
• Wide variety of disciplines represented
• 63% Female Participants
• 40% African American
• 58% First Generation College Students
• 58% undergraduate
• 42% graduate
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8. Hello From the Other Side: Uniting
Communities & Law Enforcement
with Understanding and Empathy
• Improve trust with accountability and transparency
• Community policing
• De-escalation training
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9. Awareness for Unification of the Races
• Target audience: those who do not
believe black lives matter
• Discussed racial divide, what
factors contributed to it and why it
is important to all of us
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10. Evaluation
• 95% participated in the focus group
sessions
• 86% responded to post-event survey
• Students rated the challenge as a 4.5/5
with 5 being most positive
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11. Evaluation Results
• The program theme empowered students to reflect on and
intentionally influence social change utilizing their STEM
background knowledge and skills
• Team building activities facilitated later conflict resolution
and appreciation for the team-based science approach to
addressing social change
• ACSC created a safe space within advanced computing for
students, particularly minority women, who regularly
experience discrimination in the scientific community
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12. Evaluation Results
• Over two-thirds (64%) of students cited a lack of training
and support at their local institutions and would like access
to materials both before and after the challenge
• While students enjoyed the program, many felt it did not
reflect their expectations and made suggestions for further
improvement
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13. Conclusions
• Teaching advanced computing concepts in
the context of social change provides a
powerful delivery conduit for the
information
• Visualization was a useful “universal
language” to communicate across
disciplines
• Scalability: (concept curriculum evaluation)
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14. Acknowledgements
• Special thanks to SC16 Chair John
West
• Special thanks to John Towns
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