Playing with Matches: Adopting Gale--Shapley for Managing Student Enrollments Beyond CS2
Enrollment in computer science has increased dramatically in recent years, straining capacities and leading to various strategies for managing enrollment. But some strategies increase student competition and may have disproportionate negative impacts on students from underrepresented groups. We believe success in computing education necessitates a more equitable approach to course enrollment. In this experience report, we describe our new enrollment mechanism, “the Match.” Building on the Gale-Shapley stable matching algorithm, the Match was designed to encourage a liberal arts approach to course selection and attempt to broaden participation in computing. Drawing on data from three years of use, we find high student participation, with the vast majority of students having their enrollment preferences met. With Match registration, our courses have tended to be a bit more inclusive of younger students. The Match appears not to have disparate negative impacts like those of competitive enrollment, but has increased workload in the Registrar’s Office. Overall, we believe the Match has decreased student and faculty angst around registration, and we argue that systems like the Match can help manage enrollment pressures in ways that are consistent with educational values.