Increasing the inclusion of underrepresented individuals in coding is an intractable problem, with a variety of initiatives trying to improve the situation. Many of these initiatives involve STEAM education, which combines the arts with traditional STEM disciplines. Evidence is emerging that this approach is making headway on this complex problem. We present one such initiative, iLumiDance Coding, which attempts to pique the interest and increase confidence of students in coding, by combining it with a fun and physical activity: dance. The connections between dance and coding, while not immediately obvious, are authentic, and we hypothesize that this approach will increase student comfort level with coding. We used student surveys of attitudes toward coding and a variety of statistical approaches to analyze our initiative. Each analysis showed a positive effect on student comfort level with coding. These results are useful for both educators and researchers since they contribute to a deeper understanding of how to increase interest in coding, which we hope will lead to an increase in representation.

This paper summarizes the results of a survey of academic libraries in two consortia (the Orbis Cascade Alliance and the Oberlin Group) to determine the extent of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) implementation and characteristics of libraries that had implemented these services. Of the 103 libraries surveyed, 31 had already implemented GIS services and an additional 15 were considering its implementation. There were significant differences in the implementation rate between public and private institutions. Average materials budget was also higher for those libraries that had implemented GIS than those that had not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biennial STS continuing education survey was conducted at the end of 200: in collaboration with two other organizations of science librarians. The top continuing education needs of science librarians include new technologies, professional development and keeping current, institutional repositories/digital archives, promoting science information literacy, collaboration between faculty and librarians, and finding free high-quality online data. This paper describes the process of developing and administering the survey and discusses the survey results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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