RadGrad

Developing awesome computer scientists, one graduate at a time

The goal of RadGrad is to improve the undergraduate STEM degree experience.Target outcomes include increased engagement and retention, particularly for women and underrepresented minorities, and improved post-graduation career opportunities for all participating students. We currently focus on computer science and computer engineering degree programs.

RadGrad provides an innovative mix of private social network, game mechanics, and individualized learning plans that is designed to help students better understand STEM opportunities available to them and stay engaged in the degree experience process.

STEM disciplines are rapidly changing with new innovations and career opportunities constantly arising. It is very difficult for traditional "academic advisors" or even individual faculty members to stay abreast of all of the opportunities.  RadGrad provides a means for students, faculty, advisors, and community members to work together to create an online resource that is specific to the needs and resources of their community.

RadGrad is currently deployed to over 200 students in the Department of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Hawaii. We are conducting an empirical evaluation during the next 12 months to better assess its design and make improvements where necessary.

For more details on our goals for the next 12 months, you can see our Advisory Board letter.

RadGrad is designed to support tailoring to different STEM disciplines and communities.  After we validate and improve the technology and approach this year, we plan to broaden participation to other universities and disciplinary areas.  We plan to establish a nonprofit organization and consortium to guide future growth of the platform.

RadGrad is deployed through cloud-based hosting. Organizationally, it needs to be hosted within an academic institution and department.

200 students are currently registered in the UH CS instance.

We would like to be serving multiple departments within two years.  Growth beyond that simply depends upon the success of the nonprofit organization.

Software Engineering, Game Design, User Interface Design, Educational Technology Design

We are self-funded right now.  We plan to create a nonprofit organization that has a consortium membership fees.

We hope that participating in Solve can provide us with access to individuals who can help refine and improve RadGrad.

RadGrad has the potential to scale "up" (post-graduate) and "down" (secondary education). We hope Solve can help us figure out the design solutions necessary to do this.

Creating a RadGrad instance requires upfront investment of time and thought. We hope that Solve can help us streamline the process by which new organizations can become involve.