PeerConnect: Co-Designing a Peer-Mentoring Support System with Computing Transfer Students

Abstract

In the US, nearly half of the STEM undergraduates begin their academic careers at community colleges. Transferring to four-year institutions can be challenging. Evidence suggests that mentoring can help by increasing a sense of belonging and retention. We engaged mentors and mentees from a pilot mentoring program for new transfer students in computing majors at a minority-serving institution in the Northeastern US in a co-design workshop to understand their needs and requirements for a peer-mentoring system, PeerConnect. PeerConnect aims to foster transfer students's academic and social engagement, increase self-efficacy and belonging, and develop students' self-regulated learning skills. Preliminary results show that students want features that push the system beyond merely measuring engagement to actively promoting it. This study contributes to HCI and CSCW work in designing support systems for mentoring and peer support programs in educational settings and to the emerging literature on student-centered learning analytics systems.