Collaborative Research: CER: Building a Theory of Badges for Computer Science Education

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The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University will test and refine a Theory of Badges applied to Computer Science Education. Given that badges have recently attracted a great deal of attention as both motivator and assessment marker, the goal of the project is to create a foundation of principles that will guide the design of future Computer Science badging initiatives. The team will experimentally manipulate the use of badges within an ongoing Computer Science education development project that leverages highly popular robotics competitions as the distribution channel. They will monitor and adapt the form and content of assessments and badge representations in computer science content modules to try to achieve the best possible outcomes for student participants (learner persistence, computer science content learning, and computer science career interest) as predicted by the current iteration of their badge theory. Researchers will explicitly track and publish data for underrepresented minorities, women, and economically disadvantaged students to see whether badges are particularly effective or encounter obstacles specific to these populations.