1. Using Programming to Help Students Understand the Value of Diversity Michael R. Wick and Paul J. Wagner University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire This research is supported by the Office of Professional and Instructional Development, University of Wisconsin System

2. Fundamental Question At a predominately-white undergraduate university, how can we instill in students an appreciation for the value of diversity and do so in a way the encourages students to seek inclusivity?

3. UW-EC Foreign Culture and Cultural Diversity Offerings Distribution of Foreign Culture Sections (Fall 2007) Distribution of Cultural Diversity Sections (Fall 2007)

4. Association of American Colleges and Universities 1999 Statement many different places and levels where students can revisit earlier understandings, explore new areas of inquiry, and connect knowledge about diversity to their majors.” “Not surprisingly, curriculum revision has far more impact if it is part of a college-wide consensus…colleges and universities are increasingly realizing that having diversity introduced…through a single course is insufficient. More institutions are, as a consequence, implementing curricular models that provide many different places and levels where students can revisit earlier understandings, explore new areas of inquiry, and connect knowledge about diversity to their majors.” C.M. Musil, M. Garcia, et al. To form a more perfect union: Campus diversity initiatives, Association of American Colleges and Universities, 1999 (page 27).

5. UW-EC Foreign Culture and Cultural Diversity Offerings

6. UW-EC Students Majority are Generation Y (or Millennial) –Born 1982 to 2002 Distinguishing Characteristics –Sheltered –Confident –Team-oriented –Tolerant –Goal-Driven –Pressured –Conventional Teach students to value diversity and inclusive thinking as necessary facilitators to quality – be it quality of life or work Hub of Opportunity

7. STEM-Infused Diversity Develop infused diversity assignments that demonstrate the value of diversity within an analytic setting. Content is STEM; message is inclusion and value-added Target freshmen sections Require reflection and extrapolation

8. Computer Science Project Administered and Assessed in Intro. To Programming in C++. Basic idea: Solve optimization problem using a genetic algorithm –Algorithm I: Homogeneous Population –Algorithm II: Diverse Population Administered pre- and post- Miville- Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale (M-GUDS)

9. The Project Trivial Application: Maximize sum of n numbers. 12 3 18 46 1 190 34 16 56 71 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 “Chromosome” Selection Crossover Mutation

10. The Project Experiment used a fully deceptive fitness function Basic algorithm quickly produces homogeneous population Used 50xDF so optimal value is 1500 Images taken from Kubalik and Lazansky. Fitness (% of optimal)

11. The Project Modified algorithm Modified algorithm builds diverse population Modified children begin to become Important portion of population Images taken from Kubalik and Lazansky. Proportions of parents, direct and partially randomized offspring in the population.

12. The Project Students implemented both versions Executed 10 independent runs using 1500 generations per run –Average fitness of solution found –Number of runs with optimal solution Typical Results MetricHomogeneousDiverse Average Fitness91.5% of Optimal99.8% of Optimal Optimal Solutions0% of Runs40% of Runs

13. Project Results Caveat –No control group available Enrollments too low –Multitude of uncontrolled factors Student background Other courses Out-of-class experiences –Quantitative Analysis Tough to say real meaning –Qualitative Analysis Much more compelling

14. Project Results Quantitative Analysis –“Relativistic Appreciation” Scale –M-GUDS Questions 1.Knowing how a person differs from me greatly enhances our friendship. 2.I place a high value on being deeply tolerant of others' viewpoints. 3.I can best understand someone after I get to know how he/she is both similar and different from me. 4.Knowing how a person is similar to me is the most important part of being good friends. 5.In getting to know someone, I like knowing both how he/she differs from me and is similar to me –Pre- and Post- Means Only change in Q4 statistically significant (p < 0.05) Sig.95% Interval PrePostDiffTwo-TailLowerUpper Q14.734.410.320.189-0.1590.786 Q24.735.03-0.300.2220.1910.192 Q34.944.720.220.386-0.2760.703 Q43.663.070.590.0230.0831.092 Q54.59 0.000.976-0.4870.502

15. Project Results Qualitative Analysis –Reflective paper “life lessons learned” Connected assignment to…% Students The value of diversity in building a better society 62% The dangers of human and animal inbreeding 29% The value of diversity in teamwork and problem solving 19% The impact of diversity on a population’s resistance to disease 14% The misguided beliefs of Nazi Germany 14% The importance of selecting a mate with characteristics different than your own 10% The dangers of obesity in America and its impact on the next generation 5% The value of diversity in stock market investments 5%

16. Project Results Qualitative Analysis –Sample excerpts "This theory of diversity giving better results is a value that many need to realize in this day and age. Not only in the physical domain, but social and economic domains too. This is one of the key reasons why America has been such a successful country. We have been and are more of a diverse country than any other country on this planet. And our diversity has really given us the edge over other homogeneous nations. We must learn not to shun, but value these differences as they will help us grow as a nation and as individuals.“ "This [diversity] also could be applied to a business or work place. When hiring employees, perhaps hiring the type of employee that technically is known as the 'best' is not really the optimal situation. Instead, employees of varying talents and characteristics might be more productive in the end." "Most of us feel pretty satisfied in our knowledge and culture, but like the strings [in the GA assignment], there are many things out there that could be brought into our culture and make us better as a whole.”

17. Questions Michael R. Wick and Paul J. Wagner Department of Computer Science wickmr@uwec.edu