A Sustainable Service-Learning Outreach Model for Broadening Participation in Computing
Service-learning effectively attracts and retains students in computing, thereby contributing to broadening participation in computing (BPC). This work presents a sustainable, project-based outreach model designed to engage students in educating communities about computing concepts. The model is grounded in a successful, multi-component service-learning program established at our undergraduate college to address the need to increase the number of students who persist in information technology (IT) and related majors. Our unique program has proven sustainable through an established elective course and strong departmental support.
This work reviews the foundational components that have supported the outreach model over its 13 years of existence. More significantly, we highlight its recent enhancements, including a new framework that unifies the format of our outreach activities and an online platform to document existing and new initiatives, facilitating adoption by others. The newly introduced outreach components include a series of career development events featuring IT alumni and training workshops for K–12 teachers. We hope to inspire other institutions to adopt our model, or adapt its components, to enhance their own outreach initiatives and BPC efforts.