GDSE/RES: Realtime, Applied Programming for Underrepresented Students' Early Literacy

纽约大学和俄勒冈大学尤金提出了一个为期三年的研究项目，旨在为未被充分代表的学生的早期识字(RAPUNSEL)建立一个成功的软件环境，以解决计算机科学(CS)职业和学位课程中女性严重短缺的问题。其目标是开发一个吸引人的系统，用来向中学女孩教授计算机编程。该系统旨在成为一款可扩展、可接近的模拟游戏，在增强自信和发展编程专业知识的同时，吸引女孩的沟通、好奇心和游戏感。具体地说，该项目旨在研究与性别和CS有关的三个领域。首先，编程软件环境的设计和同龄人群体在这种环境中的作用如何影响女孩学习编程的动机和参与度？第二，中学女生能够学习程序性思维等编程概念的深度有多大？第三，我们能在软件环境中提高女孩的整体自信和自我效能感水平吗？RAPUNSEL通过设计一个基于Java的网络游戏环境来解决这些问题，女孩可以在其中改变和创造原创的角色、场景和剧本，以建立在线协作叙事。使用4个基于网络的模块，女孩将通过操作模块中的对象和接收即时反馈来逐步学习编程。RAPUNSEL允许女孩分享她们的创作，并通过角色代理形式的引导提示系统逐步获得节目。在此之前，没有一项计划专门针对在线软件环境中的中学生使用一种常用的编程语言，也没有其他项目授权女孩创建自己的程序性对象供其他人使用。该团队将构建原型，以适应他们所称的“可展开环境”的更大框架，该环境激励女孩展开呈现给她们的角色和世界，操纵它们，并创造新的对象和环境。他们将与俄勒冈州和纽约的女孩组成的小组合作，作为用户、测试者、线人和设计合作伙伴。大型评估将在俄勒冈州尤金4J学区进行。研究团队包括经验丰富、屡获殊荣的科学家、艺术家、设计师和教育工作者，他们具有独特的学术和行业经验。该项目的行业相关顾问包括Maxis Entertainment的创始人、模拟人生游戏的创建者威尔·赖特，以及哈利波特、美国女孩和魔术校车游戏的开发商Know Wonder的执行工作室总监林赛·古普顿。作为顾问的教育者是俄勒冈州尤金市和尤金市4J学区的中学教师。完成后，RAPUNSEL将作为一个用户友好的环境在网上分发，也将以开源形式提供给其他研究人员使用。它有可能影响中学水平的技术教育，满足国家邀请更多女性学生发展技术和设计技能的需求。

New York University and University of Oregon Eugene propose a three-year research project to build a successful software environment for realtime, applied programming for underrepresented students' early literacy (RAPUNSEL) in order to address the critical shortage of women in Computer Science (CS) careers and degree programs. The goal is to develop an engaging system with which to teach computer programming to middle school girls. The system is designed to become a scalable, approachable simulation game that appeals to girls' sense of communication, curiosity, and play while boosting confidence and developing programming expertise. Specifically, the project aims to study three areas related to gender and CS. First, how do the design of the programming software environment and the role of the peer group within such an environment affects girls' motivation and engagement to learn programming? Second, what is the depth to which middle school girls are able to learn programming concepts such as procedural thinking? Third, can we increase girls' overall confidence and self-efficacy levels in a software environment?RAPUNSEL addresses these issues through the design of a JAVA-based networked play environment in which girls can alter and create original characters, scenes, and scripts to build collaborative narratives online. Using 4 web-based modules, girls will learn programming progressively through manipulating the objects in the modules and receiving immediate feedback. RAPUNSEL allows girls to share their creations and gradually gain access to programming through guided hint systems in the form of character agents. No previous initiatives have focused specifically on the tiered use of a commonly used programming languages for middle school girls within an online software environment, and no other project has empowered girls to create their own programmatic objects for others to use.The team will build prototypes to fit into a larger framework for what they call "unfoldable environments" which motivate girls to unwrap the characters and worlds presented to them, manipulate them, and create new objects and environments. They will work with small groups of Oregon and New York girls as users, testers, informants, and design partners. Large-scale assessment will occur in the Eugene Oregon 4J school district.The research team includes experienced, award-winning scientists, artists, designers, and educators with a unique blend of academic and industry experience. Industry-related consultants on the project include Will Wright, the founder of Maxis Entertainment and creator of The Sims games, and Lindsay Gupton, Executive Studio Director of Know Wonder, maker of the Harry Potter, American Girl, and Magic Schoolbus games. Educators serving as consultants are middle school teachers in Eugene, Oregon as well as the 4J school district in Eugene.When completed, RAPUNSEL will be distributed online as a user-friendly environment and will also be available as open source for other researchers to use. It has potential to influence technology education at the middle school level, addressing the national need to invite more female students to develop technical and design skills.