SBIR Phase I: CyberCollage: A Collective Programming Environment for the Social Exploration of Computational Thinking through Games

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在建立一个名为“网络拼贴”的系统，作为一种网络学习工具，以支持中学水平的STEM教育中的计算思维。CyberCollage将通过一种独特的将实时同步协作与基于网络的多终端用户编程相结合的社交媒体方法，实现教育游戏和计算科学模拟的集体编程。例如，多名学生可以一起制作《青蛙过河》游戏。当一个学生可能在为青蛙编程时，另一个学生可能在为海龟编程。同样，学生们可以在计算科学应用程序上进行合作，探索诸如“你的青蛙能在我的池塘里生活吗？”游戏设计和计算科学应用都将通过网络学习技术直接响应K-12 STEM教育的计算思维需求。网络学习技术解决了K-12计算机科学教育的具体需求。通过网络界面的高可访问性，通过社交媒体增加的激励前景，以及将经过测试的课程整合到必要的计算机教育中学课程中，这些建议的组合可能会吸引大量受众，并吸引女性和代表性不足的社区。纳入支持计算科学应用的战略将与STEM教育相关，并通过将其纳入公立学校，增强公众对科学的理解。该项目可以进入城市内部、偏远农村和美国原住民学校等弱势社区，这些社区可以作为第一阶段之后评估的测试平台。从研究的角度来看，集体编程的独特概念和技术方面可能会对编程语言设计、社会界面设计、社会计算和最终用户编程做出重大贡献。游戏设计和计算科学之间使用的共同框架有可能发现与计算思维高度相关的迁移教育概念的积极和消极证据。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to build a system called CyberCollage as a cyberlearning tool to support computational thinking in STEM education at the middle school level. CyberCollage will enable the collective programming of educational games and computational science simulations through a social media approach that uniquely combines real-time synchronous collaboration with web-based multi end-user Programming. For example, multiple students would be able to work together on a Frogger game. While one student may be programming the frog a different student might be working on the turtles. Similarly, students can collaborate on computational science applications that explore questions such as 'can your frog live in my pond?' Both game design and computational science applications will be directly responsive to the computational thinking need of K-12 STEM education through cyberlearning technology.Cyberlearning technology addresses concrete needs in K-12 computer science education. The proposed combination of high accessibility through Web interfaces, increased motivational prospective through social media, and tested curriculum integrated into required computer education middle school courses is likely to reach a vast audience and attract women and underrepresented communities. The inclusion of strategies to support computational science applications will be relevant to STEM education and, through their integration into public schools, enhance public science understanding. The project has access to disadvantaged communities such as inner city, remote rural and Native American schools that can serve as testbeds for evaluation beyond Phase I. From a research point of view, the unique conceptual as well as technical aspects of Collective Programming are likely to result in significant contributions to programming language design, social interface design, social computing, and end-user programming. The common framework employed between game design and computational science has the potential to discover both, positive and negative, evidence for educational notions of transfer that are highly relevant to computational thinking.