Developing a social network to increase involvement in a computer science academic community

Abstract

In order to address a lack of involvement and participation by computer science (CS) students in their academic communities, CS CONNECT, a social networking site for the computer science students at the Colorado School of Mines, aims to increase interaction between students and strengthen their sense of belonging to a community. Students that develop a stronger sense of community within the CS academic environment tend to have higher completion rates in CS programs. This thesis focuses on further development of CS CONNECT, in order to give it more aesthetic appeal, as well as to introduce new features that may have a positive impact on site usage. It remains unclear whether CS CONNECT directly influenced students' feelings of the CS community; however, motivating methods and features were shown to have an impact on site participation and content contribution.