Lowering the Barrier for Undergraduates to Learn about Computational Research through a Course-Based Conference Experience

Computer science research is largely communicated through conferences, and these in-person meetings offer a potentially powerful means to engage undergraduates in cutting-edge research. However, attending a conference as an undergraduate is an opportunity reserved for very few students, typically those who are doing relevant research with a faculty member at the time of the meeting. In an effort to give a broader set of students access to a scientific meeting, we describe a pilot study where thirteen students attended an ACM conference as part of an interdisciplinary course. While these numbers are admittedly small, students reported larger average gains in learning about oral and poster presentations compared to a large background population of students who participated in course-based research. In a follow-up survey two and a half years later, the cohort reported that they learned more on average about scientific careers and professional networking compared to other students whose conference attendance was not linked to a course. We find that conference attendance is a promising way to engage a broader swath of students in computer science and interdisciplinary topics.