@article{zahn_gransbury_heckman_battestilli_2023, title={Assessment of Self-Identified Learning Struggles in CS2 Programming Assignments}, url={https://doi.org/10.1145/3587102.3588786}, DOI={10.1145/3587102.3588786}, abstractNote={Students can have widely varying experiences while working on CS2 coding projects. Challenging experiences can lead to lower motivation and less success in completing these assignments. In this paper, we identify the common struggles CS2 students face while working on course projects and examine whether or not there is evidence of improvement in these areas of struggle between projects. While previous work has been conducted on understanding the importance of self-regulated learning to student success, it has not been fully investigated in the scope of CS2 coursework. We share our observations on investigating student struggles while working on coding projects through their self-reported response to a project reflection form. We apply emergent coding to identify student struggles at three points during the course and compare them against student actions in the course, such as project start times and office hours participation, to identify if students were overcoming these struggles. Through our coding and analysis we have found that while a majority of students encounter struggles with time management and debugging of failing tests, students tend to emphasize wanting to improve their time management skills in future coding assignments.}, journal={PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION, ITICSE 2023, VOL 1}, author={Zahn, Matthew and Gransbury, Isabella and Heckman, Sarah and Battestilli, Lina}, year={2023}, pages={264–270} }
 @article{battestilli_bohorquez_khan_meral_2023, title={Exploring Students' Perceptions and Engagement in Hybrid Flexible Courses}, url={https://doi.org/10.1145/3573051.3593383}, DOI={10.1145/3573051.3593383}, abstractNote={The Hybrid Flexible (HyFlex) instruction format provides learners with the flexibility to choose from in-person, online synchronous, or asynchronous learning. However, students' learning experiences with HyFlex has not been studied at scale. The primary goal of this study was to investigate how students' perceptions about the availability of learning resources relates to their course engagement and performance in a HyFlex learning environment. In Spring 2022, we administered an end-of-semester survey to one graduate and five undergraduate courses, each of which utilized the HyFlex instructional model. Courses were selected from three different colleges at a large public university in the United States. We investigated students' perceptions about the effectiveness, importance, and ease of use of all three learning modalities that were offered (in-person, online synchronous, and asynchronous) and the learning support options (instructor access outside of class, learning help resources, and flexibility to choose learning modality without restriction). With a sample size of 537, we found that 30% of surveyed students found in-person and online synchronous learning important for their learning whereas 60% found asynchronous learning and the flexibility to choose their learning modality important for their learning. When asked about their actual use of different modalities, students reported using asynchronous learning the most, followed by online synchronous learning. In-person learning was reportedly the least utilized. We found that non-real-time learning modalities contributed positively to overall student engagement. Students preferred to use asynchronous resources and have the flexibility to choose among learning modalities. Yet, results indicate that students who incorporated some real-time learning not only had higher performance-related engagement (e.g., confidence in their ability to succeed in the course) than those who relied primarily on non-real-time learning, but they also earned higher grades for the course. This suggests that utilizing some in-person or online synchronous modalities in conjunction with the student-preferred asynchronous options leads to improved course outcomes for both student engagement and course performance.}, journal={PROCEEDINGS OF THE TENTH ACM CONFERENCE ON LEARNING @ SCALE, L@S 2023}, author={Battestilli, Lina and Bohorquez, Elaine B. and Khan, Sarah and Meral, Cigdem}, year={2023}, pages={110–119} }
 @inproceedings{fisk_hunt_battestilli_akram_barnes_price_yoder_2022, title={Automating Personalized Feedback to Improve Students' Persistence in Computing}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3478432.3499144}, DOI={10.1145/3478432.3499144}, abstractNote={We have found that giving top-performing students in CS1 courses personalized feedback increases their intentions to persist in computing, especially among students who are women. This personalized feedback also appears to improve students' course experience and increases the likelihood that women apply to be CS1 TAs. Yet despite these benefits, giving personalized feedback may seem too impractical and time-intensive for faculty members to adopt in their own classrooms. In this workshop, we will reduce the burden of giving students personalized feedback by: 1) giving instructors empirically validated email templates to use in their own courses, and 2) guiding faculty how to send emails at-scale. We will also discuss how self-assessments influence students' career choices, how gender stereotypes bias self-assessments, and what faculty can do to counteract biased self-assessments of computing ability.}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2}, publisher={ACM}, author={Fisk, Susan and Hunt, Cynthia and Battestilli, Lina and Akram, Bita and Barnes, Tiffany and Price, Thomas and Yoder, Spencer}, year={2022}, month={Mar} }
 @inproceedings{hunt_yoder_comment_price_akram_battestilli_barnes_fisk_2022, title={Gender, Self-Assessment, and Persistence in Computing: How gender differences in self-assessed ability reduce women’s persistence in computer science}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3501385.3543963}, DOI={10.1145/3501385.3543963}, abstractNote={Are women less likely to persist in computer science because of gender differences in self-assessed computing ability? And why do gender differences exist in self-assessments among women and men who earn the same grades? We use a mixed-method research design to answer these questions, utilizing both quantitative survey data (n = 764) and qualitative interview data (n = 59) from students in introductory computing courses at a large U.S. state university. Quantitatively, we find that women self-assess their computing ability significantly lower than men who earn the same grades, and that these lower self-assessments reduce the likelihood that women enroll in future CS courses (relative to men who earn equivalent grades). Qualitatively, we explore how women and men perceive their own computing ability to understand why women self-assess their ability lower than men. Our interviews revealed that women were much less likely than men to make favorable comparative judgements about their ability relative to their classmates. Women also had higher personal performance standards than men. Lastly, women were more likely than men to experience disrespectful treatment, with an undertone of presumed incompetence, from their TAs and classmates. In sum, this research furthers our understanding of why gender differences exist in self-assessments of computing ability and how these differences can contribute to gender disparities in computing persistence. It also draws attention to the importance of feedback in computing courses and suggests that improving course feedback may reduce gender disparities in computing.}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 2022 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research V.1}, publisher={ACM}, author={Hunt, Cynthia and Yoder, Spencer and Comment, Taylor and Price, Thomas and Akram, Bita and Battestilli, Lina and Barnes, Tiffany and Fisk, Susan}, year={2022}, month={Aug} }
 @article{akram_fisk_yoder_hunt_price_battestilli_barnes_2022, title={Increasing Students' Persistence in Computer Science through a Lightweight Scalable Intervention}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3502718.3524815}, DOI={10.1145/3502718.3524815}, abstractNote={Research has shown that high self-assessment of ability, sense of belonging, and professional role confidence are crucial for students' persistence in computing. As grades in introductory computer science courses tend to be lower than other courses, it is essential to provide students with contextualized feedback about their performance in these courses. Giving students unambiguous and con- textualized feedback is especially important during COVID when many classes have moved online and instructors and students have fewer opportunities to interact. In this study, we investigate the effect of a lightweight, scalable intervention where students received personalized, contextualized feedback from their instructors after two major assignments during the semester. After each intervention, we collected survey data to assess students' self-assessment of computing ability, sense of belonging, intentions to persist in computing, professional role confidence, and the likelihood of stating intention to pursue a major in computer science. To analyze the effectiveness of our intervention, we conducted linear regression and mediation analysis on student survey responses. Our results have shown that providing students with personalized feedback can significantly improve their self-assessment of computing ability, which will significantly improve their intentions to persist in computing. Furthermore, our results have demonstrated that our intervention can significantly improve students' sense of belonging, professional role confidence, and the likelihood of stating an intention to pursue a major in computer science.}, journal={PROCEEDINGS OF THE 27TH ACM CONFERENCE ON INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION, ITICSE 2022, VOL 1}, publisher={ACM}, author={Akram, Bita and Fisk, Susan and Yoder, Spencer and Hunt, Cynthia and Price, Thomas and Battestilli, Lina and Barnes, Tiffany}, year={2022}, pages={526–532} }
 @inproceedings{moore_battestilli_dominguez_2021, place={New York}, title={Finding Video-watching Behavior Patterns in a Flipped CS1 Course}, ISBN={9781450380621}, DOI={10.1145/3408877.3432359}, abstractNote={Flipped courses often rely on pre-recorded videos that students are expected to watch before in-class time with the instructor. In this study, we investigated the video-watching behavior of students in a flipped CS1 programming course (n=490). We computed three behavioral metrics related to video watching: percentage of the videos watched, the number of times a video was opened to be watched, and when a video is watched with respect to the due date. We used k-medoids clustering on these metrics finding two distinct groups: 1) Low Video Engagement Group (53% of the students) watched 12% of the videos and 2) High Video Engagement Group (47% of the students) watched 75% of the videos. Analysis of these two different groups of engagement showed that students with prior programming experience watch fewer videos. We also found that students that watch more videos perform slightly better on summative assessments in the course. We discuss how regular video watching can be a key learning strategy for some but not all students in a flipped CS1 course, where some students can achieve good learning outcomes with minimal watching of the course videos.}, booktitle={SIGCSE '21: Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education}, publisher={ACM}, author={Moore, C. and Battestilli, L. and Dominguez, I.}, year={2021}, pages={768–774} }
 @inproceedings{fisk_wingate_battestilli_stolee_2021, title={Increasing Women's Persistence in Computer Science by Decreasing Gendered Self-Assessments of Computing Ability}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3430665.3456374}, DOI={10.1145/3430665.3456374}, abstractNote={Gender stereotypes about women's computing ability contribute to the dearth of women in computing by causing women to experience gender bias. These gender stereotypes are doubly disadvantaging to women because they create gender differences in self-assessments of computing ability, decreasing the likelihood that women will persist in Computer Science (CS). This is because students need to believe they have sufficient ability in a field in order to pursue it as a career. Building on decades of Sociological theory, we hypothesized that increasing top-performing women's self-assessments of computing ability would increase those women's intentions to persist in computing. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a field experiment in a CS1 class in which the top 50% of students were given additional performance feedback from their instructor via email. The intervention increased these women's and men's self-assessed CS ability but only increased the women's CS persistence intentions. In sum, sending a single email increased top-performing women's intentions to persist in CS by 18%. A mediation analysis found evidence for the proposed causal path; namely, that the intervention increased the women's self-assessments of computing ability, which then increased their intentions to persist in computing. This research furthers our knowledge of the processes around self-assessments of ability and career choice that contribute to the dearth of women in CS. It also provides evidence for a lightweight intervention that may increase the number of women in computing, as prior research finds that intentions to persist are highly predictive of actual persistence in STEM fields.}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 1}, publisher={ACM}, author={Fisk, Susan R. and Wingate, Tiah and Battestilli, Lina and Stolee, Kathryn T.}, year={2021}, month={Jun} }
 @inproceedings{fisk_stolee_battestilli_2021, title={Increasing Women’s Persistence in Computer Science by Decreasing Gendered Self-Assessments of Computing Ability}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education.}, publisher={ACM}, author={Fisk, S. and Stolee, K. and Battestilli, L.}, year={2021} }
 @inproceedings{isvik_barnes_payton_catete_battestilli_2021, place={New York}, title={STARS Ignite: A Program for Supporting Professors in Organizing Student Cohorts for Conferences}, ISBN={9781450380621}, DOI={10.1145/3408877.3432502}, abstractNote={Academic computing departments are seeking ways to broaden participation, and many are encouraging individual faculty, staff, and students to attend diversity-oriented conferences, like the Tapia and STARS Celebrations of Diversity in Computing and Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Such conferences present opportunities to meet a broader community of people for professional development and networking, to be inspired by leaders in computing, and to celebrate diversity. However, while many institutions sponsor these conferences and support individual student attendance, students may not know how to leverage these opportunities effectively. We argue that leading a cohort of faculty/staff and students who attend a conference with the shared goal of broadening participation can provide lasting benefits for computing departments. This workshop will prepare faculty and staff to recruit and lead a team of students and leverage conference attendance to ignite broadening participation efforts. Through a hands-on collaborative process, the workshop provides the knowledge and tools needed to successfully lead a cohort, and helps attendees tailor the provided tools to their local strengths and needs to broaden participation in computing.}, booktitle={SIGCSE '21: Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education}, publisher={ACM}, author={Isvik, A. and Barnes, T. and Payton, J. and Catete, V. and Battestilli, L.}, year={2021}, pages={1349} }
 @inproceedings{lin_battestilli_ball_2021, place={New York}, title={Strategies for Authentic Assessments of Mastery in CS Courses}, ISBN={9781450380621}, DOI={10.1145/3408877.3439504}, abstractNote={Assessing student mastery is an increasingly important aspect of a computer science (CS) course. Recent discussions in the SIGCSE community have questioned traditional assessment and grading practices, such as the use of high-stakes exams and standardized programming assignments. As an alternative, authentic assessments of mastery have been proposed with the goal of creating more equitable and inclusive classrooms that support a diversity in student discourses and epistemologies. This Birds-of-a-Feather session will provide a forum for conversations around assessment of student mastery. Although conversations will likely draw on experiences from teaching remote courses, the discussions can also inspire assessment ideas and methods that work for in-person instruction as well. The discussion leaders will begin by sharing their experiences using formative, low-stakes quizzes; two-stage individual and group assessments; student-generated video problem solutions; written research papers; and creative projects. For each assessment, the discussion leaders expect to address questions such as: What were the goals? What classes was it used in? How did we grade it? How does it scale? This session is a space for participants to expand our collective understanding of how authentic assessments can be used in CS courses and share ideas to inform research and practice toward grading for equity. Afterward, discussion notes will be compiled and publicly archived at https://kevinl.info/authentic-assessments}, booktitle={SIGCSE '21: Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education}, publisher={ACM}, author={Lin, K. and Battestilli, L. and Ball, M.}, year={2021}, pages={1361} }
 @inproceedings{fisk_stolee_battestilli_2020, title={A Lightweight Intervention to Decrease Gender Bias in Student Evaluations of Teaching}, ISBN={9781728171722}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/respect49803.2020.9272454}, DOI={10.1109/respect49803.2020.9272454}, abstractNote={Women are underrepresented as instructors in engineering, computing, and technology classes. One factor that disadvantages women in the classroom are student evaluations of teaching (SETs), as research finds they contain significant gender bias. This may contribute to the dearth of women in computing education, as SETs are used in decisions about contract renewals, hiring, tenure, and promotion. The double-bind is one cause of gender bias in SETs, meaning that it is more difficult for women than for men in leadership positions (such as being a professor) to be perceived as both competent and likable. We examine a lightweight intervention's impact on gender bias caused by the double-bind. Specifically, we conducted a field experiment in which the woman professor of a CS1 class for non-majors gave students in the intervention condition additional, positive exam feedback via email. We hypothesized this would increase students' perceptions of the professor's likability, which would then increase her SETs. We find that the intervention increased top-performing students' ratings of the professors' likability. We also find that the professor received significantly higher SETs the semester she sent the intervention emails. While women should not have to alter their behavior to accommodate students' gender biases, this intervention may be a useful survival strategy for women impacted by gender bias in SETs.}, booktitle={2020 Research on Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT)}, publisher={IEEE}, author={Fisk, Susan and Stolee, Kathryn T. and Battestilli, Lina}, year={2020}, month={Mar} }
 @inproceedings{battestilli_domı́nguez ignacio x._thyagarajan_2020, place={New York, NY, USA}, title={Toward Finding Online Activity Patterns in a Flipped Programming Course}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3372626}, DOI={10.1145/3328778.3372626}, abstractNote={Instructors are increasingly flipping their classrooms, where students are required to study on their own prior to in-class time with the instructor. We present preliminary results on identifying student online behavior patterns in a CS1 flipped course that correlate with students' test scores covering the material explained in the online videos. We found that clustering students based on how much of the online lecture videos they watched allows us to find significant differences in the average test scores of each cluster.}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education}, publisher={Association for Computing Machinery}, author={Battestilli, Lina and Domı́nguez Ignacio X. and Thyagarajan, Maanasa}, year={2020}, month={Feb}, pages={1345} }
 @inproceedings{battestilli_korkes_2020, title={Writing Effective Autograded Exercises Using Bloom's Taxonomy}, url={https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--35711}, DOI={10.18260/1-2--35711}, abstractNote={Abstract Computer science enrollment continues to grow every year, with class sizes growing into the hundreds. Many instructors in introductory computing courses have turned to auto-graded exercises to ease grading load while still allowing students to practice concepts. As the use of auto-graders becomes more common, it is imperative to ensure that the exercise sets are being written to maximize student benefit. In this paper, we use Bloom's Taxonomy (BT) to create auto-graded exercise sets that scale up from lower to higher levels of complexity. We focus on evaluating learning efficiency, code quality, and student perception of their learning experience. We found that it takes students more submission attempts in the auto-grader when the are given BT Apply/Analyze-type questions that contain some starter code. Students complete the auto-graded assignments with fewer number of submissions when there is no-starter code and they have to write the solution from scratch, i.e. BT Create-type of questions. However, when writing code from scratch, the students' code quality can suffer because the students are not required to actually understand the concept being tested and might be able to find a workaround to pass the tests of the auto-grader.}, booktitle={2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings}, publisher={ASEE Conferences}, author={Battestilli, Lina and Korkes, Sarah}, year={2020}, month={Jun} }
 @book{fisk_stolee_battestilli_2019, place={Raleigh, NC}, title={A Lightweight Intervention to Decrease Gender Bias in Student Evaluations of Teaching (Full Version)}, number={TR-2019-9}, institution={North Carolina State University}, author={Fisk, S. and Stolee, K.T. and Battestilli, L.}, year={2019} }
 @inproceedings{battestilli_silverberg_2019, title={CADApps:  MATLAB Apps for Core Courses in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Curricula}, url={https://sites.asee.org/se/wp-content/uploads/sites/56/2021/04/2019ASEESE28.pdf}, booktitle={ASEE-SE Annual Conference}, author={Battestilli, Lina and Silverberg, Larry}, year={2019}, month={Mar} }
 @inproceedings{battestilli_silverberg_eischen_thomas_2019, title={CADApps: MATLAB Apps for Core Courses in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Curricula}, booktitle={Proceedings of the ASEE-SE 2019}, author={Battestilli, L. and Silverberg, L. and Eischen, J. and Thomas, C.}, year={2019} }
 @inproceedings{barnes_payton_battestilli_doman_2019, title={STARS Computing Corps IGNITE Program}, booktitle={Proceedings of the Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT) Conference 2019}, author={Barnes, T. and Payton, J. and Battestilli, L. and Doman, M.}, year={2019} }
 @inproceedings{using bloom's taxonomy to write effective programming questions for autograding tools_2019, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293858}, DOI={10.1145/3287324.3293858}, abstractNote={Automated grading has become crucial in supporting large introductory Computer Science courses by assisting instructors in reducing grading time and course costs. However, novice programmers are often frustrated by auto-grading tools as they often provide minimal feedback or the questions are too complex. We propose using Bloom's Taxonomy to gradually increase the complexity of the programming question in an auto-grading tool. The easiest questions are based on Knowledge and Comprehension. Next are questions that require Application and Analysis. The most complex questions require Design and Creativity. We have developed programming questions that fit these categories. For example, for debugging the students have to understand and Analyze code. However, in order to write a program with more complex logic the students have to be Creative. The main goal is to lead novice programmers to learn more effectively and efficiently. In this poster, we present examples of the developed auto-graded programming problems based on Bloom's Taxonomy and the results of a pilot study in a CS-1 non-majors course}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education  - SIGCSE '19}, year={2019}, month={Mar} }
 @article{wolz_battestilli_maxwell_rodger_trim_2018, title={Best Practices in Academia to Remedy Gender Bias in Tech}, DOI={10.1145/3159450.3159618}, abstractNote={The New York Times published an op-ed by Anita Hill [3] suggesting that women in tech consider class action to remedy the gender bias that is increasingly being reported in the mass-media. This panel raises the question "what are we doing in undergraduate programs to reduce the 'Mad Men', 'Brogrammer' culture she describes that is increasingly being reported in the popular press. Part of our mission as educators is to develop professional behavior so that our students entering the workforce not only understand what it means to act professionally, but understand that it is their responsibility to actively push back on the existing bias within the tech culture. As moderator Ursula Wolz brings a depth of insight from 40 years of industrial and academic experience, including a National Science Foundation project to broaden participation in computing [5]. She does not believe this problem can be solved through quantitative data collection on who does well in computer science, but that SIGCSE needs to begin to collect good stories (ala Sally Fincher [2]) on what constitute best practices to support diversity. The panelists present a range of perspectives that have the potential to establish new cultural norms in the single most influential industry in our economy.}, journal={SIGCSE'18: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 49TH ACM TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM ON COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION}, author={Wolz, Ursula and Battestilli, Lina and Maxwell, Bruce and Rodger, Susan and Trim, Michelle}, year={2018}, pages={672–673} }
 @inproceedings{battestilli_2018, title={Exam Wrappers and Grades with Context}, author={Battestilli, Lina}, year={2018} }
 @article{battestilli_awasthi_cao_2018, title={Two-Stage Programming Projects: Individual Work Followed by Peer Collaboration}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159486}, DOI={10.1145/3159450.3159486}, abstractNote={Programming projects are widely used in CS1 classes to develop students' coding skills. To improve the learning impact of these projects, we propose and study a special project format named two-stage project in an introductory computer science course. For the first stage, students submit their programming projects individually followed by a second stage where they are paired to work on the same project in order to create an improved solution. Through peer collaboration, students review each other's work from the first stage, and write correctly-styled, well-documented, and more thoroughly tested code during the second stage. We used isomorphic assessments before and after the second stage of a project to measure students' understanding of the course material. Results indicate that two-stage projects tend to improve student understanding of course learning objectives. We also studied students' perceptions and experiences with two-stage projects, and their confidence toward computing. Students liked working on two-stage projects because they saw new ways to approach the same problem, and they liked discussions with their peers.}, journal={SIGCSE'18: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 49TH ACM TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM ON COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION}, publisher={ACM}, author={Battestilli, Lina and Awasthi, Apeksha and Cao, Yingjun}, year={2018}, pages={479–484} }
 @inproceedings{battestilli_le_2017, title={The Value of Organized Study Groups in Large Classes}, author={Battestilli, L. and Le, T.}, year={2017}, month={Apr} }
 @book{battestilli_awasthi_2017, place={Raleigh, NC}, title={Two-stage Programming Projects: Individual Work Followed by Peer Collaboration}, number={TR-2017-3}, institution={North Carolina State University}, author={Battestilli, L. and Awasthi, A.}, year={2017} }
 @inproceedings{vila-parrish_baldwin_battestilli_queen_schmidt_carson_2016, title={TH!NK: A Framework to Assess and Support Critical and Creative Thinking}, ISBN={978-0-692-68565-5}, ISSN={2153-5965}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.18260/p.26081}, DOI={10.18260/p.26081}, abstractNote={This work in progress study describes a strategic university initiative (TH!NK) that is aimed at improving critical and creative thinking throughout the undergraduate curricula. The TH!NK initiative is part of the North Carolina State University's five year Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). This initiative is designed to train faculty to utilize strategies that cultivate students’ critical and creative thinking in the classroom. TH!NK provides a comprehensive framework for implementing strategies that support higher-order thinking skills through faculty training, mentoring, and formal assessment of student learning outcomes. In TH!NK courses, students are introduced to and given opportunities to evaluate their own work and that of others using the intellectual standards of critical thinking which include clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, significance, depth, breadth, logic, and fairness. In addition, students become familiar with standards for judging creative thinking such as originality, appropriateness, flexibility, and contribution to the domain. Student learning outcomes include the application of critical and creative thinking skills and intellectual standards in the process of solving problems. TH!NK began its second year in August 2015 with a cohort of approximately 40 faculty participating from across the university including computer science and first year engineering (FYE). In the first year of the TH!NK program, student learning outcome assessment data was collected using multiple methods. One method was the Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT) developed by researchers at Tennessee Tech University that was administered in a preand postassessment format at the beginning and end of the semester. Statistical analysis showed that there were significant gains in courses that used pedagogical approaches that emphasized critical and creative thinking multiple times throughout the semester. Faculty also design a discipline-specific assignment that would be assessed using the TH!NK Common Rubric, a modified version of the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ Value Rubrics. The second year of the TH!NK initiative focused on first year courses, with an increased emphasis on first year engineering courses. Four faculty, two from the computer science department and two from the FYE program, are taking part in this second iteration of the initiative, resulting in substantial changes to the way they teach and assess their students. During the planning process in the summer 2015, it became evident that while these courses offered opportunities for students to work on projects, tools for assessing the students’ thinking were not extensively used. Specifically, prior to TH!NK while student artifacts were assessed, the design processes themselves were not assessed, and therefore students only received constructive feedback on work products, not work process. With the required TH!NK course revisions, there is an opportunity to improve the students’ thinking process which in turn should improve the quality of their final solution. The goal of this work-in-progress research project is to explore how emphasizing critical and creative thinking skills in the first year engineering were implemented in four engineering classrooms.}, booktitle={2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings}, publisher={ASEE Conferences}, author={Vila-Parrish, Anita and Baldwin, Tameshia and Battestilli, Lina and Queen, Hailey and Schmidt, Jessica and Carson, Susan}, year={2016}, month={Jul} }
 @article{battestilli_perros_chukova_2015, title={Performance evaluation of an OBS network as a IPP/M/W/W network}, volume={39}, ISSN={["1872-8480"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.apm.2014.07.016}, abstractNote={We develop an analytical method for calculating the burst loss probabilities in a tandem Optical Burst Switched (OBS) network with a bursty arrival process, depicted by an Interrupted Poison Process (IPP). The OBS network is modeled as a tandem network of loss nodes which is analyzed using single-node decomposition, whereby each node is studied in isolation as an IPP/M/W/W. For this, we need the departure process from an IPP/M/W/W which we obtain using binomial moment techniques. Performance evaluation of an OBS network shows that our method gives results which are closer to simulation results than a Poisson arrival process.}, number={3-4}, journal={APPLIED MATHEMATICAL MODELLING}, author={Battestilli, Lina and Perros, Harry and Chukova, Stefanka}, year={2015}, month={Feb}, pages={965–981} }
 @inproceedings{battestilli_silverberg_eischen_2014, title={CAD Apps: Computer aided design applications for the MAE curriculum}, author={Battestilli, Lina and Silverberg, Larry and Eischen, Jeffrey}, year={2014} }
 @inproceedings{battestilli_2014, title={SHE++ Documentary Screening and Discussion}, author={Battestilli, L.}, year={2014} }
 @inproceedings{battestilli_nelms_hunter_shippy_2011, title={High-performing scale-out solution for deep packet processing via adaptive load-balancing}, ISBN={9781457712647}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/lanman.2011.6076946}, DOI={10.1109/lanman.2011.6076946}, abstractNote={We propose a scale-out solution for deep packet processing (DPP) appliances, which uses a standard Ethernet switch in combination with a load balancing controller. The majority of the data-plane traffic is distributed via the switch's built-in traffic distribution function and no connection state is kept. If the load balancing controller detects a skew in the load of the DPP appliances, it updates the traffic rules in the switch to redirect new connections to less busy DPP appliances. This adaptive solution is beneficial for load-balancing at high data rates because state is kept for only the redirected connections. For typical traffic patterns, our solution reduces the packet drops with minimal connection redirection. We show an example capture, where we are able to improve the packet drop rate by 94.8% with only 3% of the connections being redirected.}, booktitle={2011 18th IEEE Workshop on Local & Metropolitan Area Networks (LANMAN)}, publisher={IEEE}, author={Battestilli, Lina and Nelms, Terry and Hunter, Steven W. and Shippy, Gary}, year={2011}, month={Oct} }
 @inproceedings{battestilli_perros_2010, title={Performance Evaluation of an OBS Network as a TandemNetwork of IPP/M/W/W Nodes}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 4th Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Advanced Reliability and Maintenance Modelling(APARM)}, author={Battestilli, L. and Perros, H.}, year={2010}, month={Dec} }
 @article{battestilli_perros_chukova_2009, title={Burst lost probabilities in a queuing network with simultaneous resource possession: a single-node decomposition approach}, volume={3}, ISSN={1751-8628}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1049/iet-com:20070426}, DOI={10.1049/iet-com:20070426}, abstractNote={An efficient analytical method is presented for the calculation of blocking probabilities in a tandem queuing network with simultaneous resource possession. This queuing network model is motivated from the need to model optical burst switching networks, where the size of the data bursts varies and the link distance between two adjacent network elements also varies depending on the network's topology. A fast single-node decomposition algorithm is developed to compute the blocking probabilities in the network. The algorithm extends the popular link-decomposition method from teletraffic theory by allowing dynamic simultaneous link possession. Simulation is used to validate the accuracy of the algorithm.}, number={3}, journal={IET Communications}, publisher={Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)}, author={Battestilli, L. and Perros, H. and Chukova, S.}, year={2009}, pages={441–453} }
 @inbook{karmous-edwards_vishwanath_reeves_battestilli_vegesna_rouskas_2009, place={Piscataway, NJ}, title={ERONs: Dynamic lightpath networking via overlay control of static optical connections}, ISBN={9781424441877}, booktitle={2009 International Conference On Optical Network Design and Modeling (ONDM)}, publisher={IEEE}, author={Karmous-Edwards, G. and Vishwanath, A. and Reeves, D. and Battestilli, L. and Vegesna, P. and Rouskas, G.}, year={2009}, pages={1} }
 @article{karmous-edwards_vishwanath_reeves_battestilli_vegesna_rouskas_2009, title={Edge-Reconfigurable Optical Networks (ERONs): Rationale, Network Design, and Evaluation}, volume={27}, ISSN={0733-8724 1558-2213}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/jlt.2009.2021279}, DOI={10.1109/jlt.2009.2021279}, abstractNote={To bridge the gap between the current practice of setting up expensive, dedicated, lightpath connections (i.e., static topologies), and the distant future vision of inexpensive access to dynamically switched end-to-end lightpaths, we propose a medium term solution in the form of edge-reconfigurable optical networks (ERONs). An ERON is an overlay-control network created by installing readily available MEMS optical switches, and implementing a GMPLS control plane at sites interconnected by static lightpaths. The switches and control software are deployed at the edge of the network and operated by the organization-user (i.e., outside the network provider's control), hence the term ldquoedge-reconfigurablerdquo. By providing dynamic, automated control of end-to-end lightpaths, ERONs enable the sharing of expensive network resources among multiple users and applications that require sporadic access to these resources. We develop an algorithm for creating an ERON from an existing topology of static lightpaths. We also present simulation results that quantify the benefits of ERONs, in terms of the number of lightpaths that are needed when compared to a static configuration of independent and dedicated circuits.}, number={12}, journal={Journal of Lightwave Technology}, publisher={Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)}, author={Karmous-Edwards, G. and Vishwanath, A. and Reeves, D.S. and Battestilli, L. and Vegesna, P.B. and Rouskas, G.N.}, year={2009}, month={Jun}, pages={1837–1845} }
 @inproceedings{arshad_ramay_tanwir_battestilli_zaidi_2008, title={Advance Reservation and Dynamic Scheduling of Point to Multipoint Lightpaths}, ISBN={9781424429608}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/honet.2008.4810211}, DOI={10.1109/honet.2008.4810211}, abstractNote={Advance reservation is a technique employed so that a request is guaranteed 100% availability of the resource it applied for sometimes earlier. In this paper we introduce the concept of advance reservation of lightpaths for a certain request characterized by some source and multiple destinations and also the time when network resources are demanded. We first present a point to multipoint adaptive routing algorithm that forms the basis of establishing lightpaths. Then the lightpaths are in fixed on the route through a wavelength assignment technique that works along with an advance reservation scheme to ensure conflict resolution among incoming requests. Based on our algorithm, we run our simulation model to generate results and exemplify the fact that advance reservation outruns on-demand reservation as far as the blocking probability is concerned.}, booktitle={2008 International Symposium on High Capacity Optical Networks and Enabling Technologies}, publisher={IEEE}, author={Arshad, Faraz and Ramay, Sarfraz Rasheed and Tanwir, Savera and Battestilli, Lina and Zaidi, S. M. H}, year={2008}, month={Nov} }
 @article{tanwir_battestilli_perros_karmous-edwards_2008, title={Dynamic scheduling of network resources with advance reservations in optical grids}, volume={18}, ISSN={1055-7148 1099-1190}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/nem.680}, DOI={10.1002/nem.680}, abstractNote={Advance reservation of lightpaths in grid environments is necessary to guarantee QoS and reliability. In this paper, we have evaluated and compared several algorithms for dynamic scheduling of lightpaths using a flexible advance reservation model. The main aim is to find the best scheduling policy for a grid network resource manager that improves network utilization and minimizes blocking. The scheduling of lightpaths involves both routing and wavelength assignment. Our simulation results show that minimum‐cost adaptive routing where link costs are determined by the current and future usage of the link provides the minimum blocking. For wavelength assignment, we have used a scheme that reduces fragmentation by minimizing unused gaps. We have also analyzed approaches for failure recovery and resource optimization. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.}, number={2}, journal={International Journal of Network Management}, publisher={Wiley}, author={Tanwir, Savera and Battestilli, Lina and Perros, Harry and Karmous-Edwards, Gigi}, year={2008}, month={Mar}, pages={79–105} }
 @article{xin_battestilli_2007, title={A performance study on optical burst switched networks: the ring topology}, volume={14}, ISSN={1387-974X 1572-8188}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11107-007-0061-6}, DOI={10.1007/s11107-007-0061-6}, number={1}, journal={Photonic Network Communications}, publisher={Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, author={Xin, Yufeng and Battestilli, Lina}, year={2007}, month={Jun}, pages={63–70} }
 @misc{battestilli_hutanu_karmous-edwards_katz_maclaren_mambretti_moore_park_perros_sundar_et al._2007, title={EnLIGHTened Computing: An architecture for co-allocating network, compute, and other grid resources for high-end applications}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/honet.2007.4600261}, DOI={10.1109/honet.2007.4600261}, abstractNote={Many emerging high performance applications require distributed infrastructure that is significantly more powerful and flexible than traditional grids. Such applications require the optimization, close integration, and control of all grid resources, including networks. The EnLIGHTened (ENL) computing project has designed an architectural framework that allows grid applications to dynamically request (in-advance or on-demand) any type of grid resource: computers, storage, instruments, and deterministic, high-bandwidth network paths, including lightpaths. Based on application requirements, the ENL middleware communicates with grid resource managers and, when availability is verified, co-allocates all the necessary resources. ENLpsilas domain network manager controls all network resource allocations to dynamically setup and delete dedicated circuits using generalized multiprotocol label switching (GMPLS) control plane signaling. In order to make optimal brokering decisions, the ENL middleware uses near-real-time performance information about grid resources. A prototype of this architectural framework on a national-scale testbed implementation has been used to demonstrate a small number of applications. Based on this, a set of changes for the middleware have been laid out and are being implemented.}, journal={2007 International Symposium on High Capacity Optical Networks and Enabling Technologies}, publisher={IEEE}, author={Battestilli, L. and Hutanu, A. and Karmous-Edwards, G. and Katz, D.S. and MacLaren, J. and Mambretti, J. and Moore, J.H. and Park, Seung-Jong and Perros, H.G. and Sundar, S. and et al.}, year={2007}, month={Nov} }
 @misc{thorpe_battestilli_karmous-edwards_hutanu_maclaren_mambretti_moore_sundar_xin_takefusa_et al._2007, title={G-lambda and EnLIGHTened: Wrapped In Middleware Co-allocating Compute and Network Resources Across Japan and the US}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.4108/gridnets.2007.2077}, DOI={10.4108/gridnets.2007.2077}, abstractNote={This paper describes innovative architectures and techniques for reserving and coordinating highly distributed resources, a capability required for many large scale applications. In the fall of 2006, Japan's G-lambda research team and the United States' EnLIGHTened Computing research team used these innovations to achieve the world's first inter-domain coordination of resource managers for in-advance reservation of network bandwidth and compute resources between and among both the US and Japan. The compute and network resource managers had different interfaces and were independently developed. Automated interoperability among the resources in both countries was enabled through various Grid middleware components. In this paper, we describe the middleware components, testbeds, results, and lessons learned.}, journal={Proceedings of the 1st International ICST Conference on Networks for Grid Applications}, publisher={ICST}, author={Thorpe, Steven R. and Battestilli, Lina and Karmous-Edwards, Gigi and Hutanu, Andrei and MacLaren, Jon and Mambretti, Joe and Moore, John H. and Sundar, Kamaraju Syam and Xin, Yufeng and Takefusa, Atsuko and et al.}, year={2007} }
 @article{battestilli_perros_2006, title={A performance study of an optical burst switched network with dynamic simultaneous link possession}, volume={50}, ISSN={1389-1286}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2005.05.021}, DOI={10.1016/j.comnet.2005.05.021}, abstractNote={In optical burst switched (OBS) networks a burst may occupy a wavelength on one or more links as it travels through the network. In the literature, OBS networks have been analyzed assuming that each burst occupies only a wavelength on a single link. In this paper, we study analytically the performance of an OBS network with a mixture of different size bursts. The short bursts occupy a wavelength on a single link while the long bursts occupy simultaneously wavelengths on multiple consecutive links. We develop a queueing network, which models simultaneous link possession, and we calculate analytically the end-to-end burst loss probabilities over a path in the OBS network. Our results indicate that having a mix of various size bursts can greatly effect the burst loss probabilities in the network.}, number={2}, journal={Computer Networks}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Battestilli, Tzvetelina and Perros, Harry}, year={2006}, month={Feb}, pages={219–236} }
 @inbook{battestilli_perros_2006, title={Burst Loss Probabilities in an OBS Network with Dynamic Simultaneous Link Possession}, ISBN={9781860946615 9781860948923}, ISSN={1793-2408}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/9781860948923_0012}, DOI={10.1142/9781860948923_0012}, booktitle={Advances in Computer Science and Engineering: Texts}, publisher={PUBLISHED BY IMPERIAL COLLEGE PRESS AND DISTRIBUTED BY WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING CO.}, author={Battestilli, Tzvetelina and Perros, Harry}, year={2006}, month={Sep}, pages={205–225} }
 @inbook{karmous-edwards_mambretti_simeonidou_jukan_battestilli_perros_xin_strand_2006, title={Grid Networks and Layer 1 Services}, ISBN={9780470028698 9780470017487 9780470028704}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/0470028696.ch12}, DOI={10.1002/0470028696.ch12}, booktitle={Grid Networks}, publisher={John Wiley & Sons, Ltd}, author={Karmous-Edwards, Gigi and Mambretti, Joe and Simeonidou, Dimitra and Jukan, Admela and Battestilli, Tzvetelina and Perros, Harry and Xin, Yufeng and Strand, John}, year={2006}, month={Jul}, pages={217–252} }
 @book{battestilli_2006, title={Grid Optical Burst Switched Networks GOBS}, institution={Global Grid Forum, GHPN Group}, author={Battestilli, Lina}, year={2006} }
 @inproceedings{tanwir_battestilli_perros_karmous-edwards_2006, title={Monitoring and Discovery for EnLIGHTened Computing}, booktitle={Proceedings of IEEE High Capacity Optical Networks’06 Conference}, publisher={IEEE}, author={Tanwir, S. and Battestilli, L. and Perros, H. and Karmous-Edwards, G.}, year={2006} }
 @article{battest_perros_2005, title={Optical burst switching for the next generation Internet}, volume={23}, ISSN={0278-6648}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/mp.2005.1368915}, DOI={10.1109/mp.2005.1368915}, abstractNote={Demands for network bandwidth increase daily. In order to meet our ever-increasing network bandwidth needs, one solution is to design and build the next generation Internet with an optical core infrastructure, with last connection provisioning time and unprecedented high data rates of 100 terabits per second and higher. An optical network is built by interconnecting various optical switches with wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) fibers, i.e., fibers that can simultaneously transmit data over different wavelengths. Many of today's commercial optical networks, however, do not utilize the WDM technology efficiently. With respect to the current state of the technology, an Optical Burst Switched (OBS) Network is one of the most promising all-optical architectures for the next generation Internet. It efficiently supports the transmission of bursty traffic over an all-optical infrastructure. OBS is still being developed and it has not been standardized yet. This article describes the main features of an OBS network, its benefits as well as its challenges.}, number={5}, journal={IEEE Potentials}, publisher={Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)}, author={Battest, T. and Perros, H.}, year={2005}, month={Jan}, pages={40–43} }
 @inproceedings{battestilli_perros_2004, title={End-To-End Burst Loss Probabilities in an OBS Network with Simultaneous Link Possession}, booktitle={Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Optical Burst Switching, WOBS3}, author={Battestilli, L. and Perros, H.}, year={2004} }
 @article{battestilli_perros_2003, title={An introduction to optical burst switching}, volume={41}, ISSN={0163-6804}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/mcom.2003.1222715}, DOI={10.1109/mcom.2003.1222715}, abstractNote={Optical burst switching is a promising solution for all-optical WDM networks. It combines the benefits of optical packet switching and wavelength routing while taking into account the limitations of the current all-optical technology. In OBS, the user data is collected at the edge of the network, sorted based on a destination address, and grouped into variable sized bursts. Prior to transmitting a burst, a control packet is created and immediately sent toward the destination in order to set up a bufferless optical path for its corresponding burst. After an offset delay time, the data burst itself is transmitted without waiting for a positive acknowledgment from the destination node. The OBS framework has been widely studied in the past few years because it achieves high traffic throughput and high resource utilization. However, despite the OBS trademarks such as dynamic connection setup or strong separation between data and control, there are many differences in the published OBS architectures. In this article we summarize in a systematic way the main OBS design parameters and the solutions that have been proposed in the open literature.}, number={8}, journal={IEEE Communications Magazine}, publisher={Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)}, author={Battestilli, T. and Perros, H.}, year={2003}, month={Aug}, pages={S10–S15} }
 @book{battestilli_perros_2002, place={Raleigh, NC}, title={Optical Burst Switching: A Survey}, number={TR-2002-10}, institution={North Carolina State University}, author={Battestilli, L. and Perros, H.}, year={2002} }
 @book{dimitrova_1999, title={Protecting Private Networks From Internet Threats}, institution={Kettering University}, author={Dimitrova, T.}, year={1999} }
 @inproceedings{chakravarthy_dimitrova_1995, title={Service Control of a Queueing System with Nonrenewal Arrivals and Phase Type Services}, booktitle={Proceedings of the International Mathematica Symposium}, author={Chakravarthy, S. and Dimitrova, T.}, year={1995} }