EAGER: A Low-Cost Integrated Agent-based Modeling and Physical Computing Platform

世纪的劳动力需要有高水平的技术素养，包括从计算机使用到软件和硬件开发的技能。发展这些技能有许多障碍，包括计算平台的高成本和难以获得，学习计算的课程相对缺乏，以及学习者在工作中使用这些技能之前有机会以非正式的方式应用这些技能。特别是，虽然软件开发的成本正在下降，软件开发的课程也开始出现，但以学习者为中心的环境很少，允许人们探索技术软件和硬件之间的联系。这个项目修改了一个现有的，经过验证的，对学习者友好的软件环境，称为NetLogo，可以在25美元的廉价计算机上运行，而不是昂贵的台式计算机。此外，该项目还将开发和测试课程，让年轻人通过构建连接到这些计算机的电路来了解硬件和软件之间的联系。由于这些廉价计算机的低成本和日益普及，该项目可能有助于增加了解硬件和软件之间联系的机会。这个项目的智力价值在于这种新的硬件/软件环境的技术开发，在研究是否以及如何基于代理的建模平台可以用来支持学习者的计算思维，并在记录单板计算平台的启示，用于教学计算机科学和工程原理在硬件和软件之间的交叉点。除了将NetLogo编程语言移植到Raspberry Pi单板计算机的Raspbian操作系统之外，该项目还将开发课程（涵盖基本编程、电路和基于代理的建模），并研究未来应如何开发教授这些概念的课程。30小时的课程将由专家审查，并通过两轮实验室设计试验和一次与年轻学习者的现场试验进行试点测试。这些结果预计将为学习科学领域和人机交互研究领域提供信息;并通过传播课程和将软件与Raspberry Pi低成本计算机捆绑在一起产生更广泛的影响。

The 21st century workforce needs to have high levels of technological literacy, including skills ranging from computer use to software and hardware development. There are many barriers to the development of such skills including the high cost and inaccessibility of computing platforms, the relative lack of curriculum to learn computing, and the opportunity for learners to apply these skills in informal ways before using them in the workforce. In particular, while the cost of software development is decreasing, and curriculum for software development are beginning to emerge, there are extremely few learner-centric environments that allow people to explore the connection between technology software and hardware. This project modifies an existing, proven, learner-friendly software environment called NetLogo to run on cheap $25 computers instead of expensive desktop computers. In addition, the project will develop and test curriculum for youth to learn about the connections between hardware and software by building circuits that connect to these computers. The project will likely help increase opportunities to learn about the connection between hardware and software, due to the low cost and increasing popularity of these inexpensive computers. The intellectual merit of this project rests in the technical development of this novel hardware/software environment, in studying whether and how agent-based modelling platforms can be used to support learners in computational thinking, and in documenting the affordances of the single-board computing platform for teaching computer science and engineering principles at the intersection between hardware and software. In addition to porting the NetLogo programming language to the Raspbian operating system for the Raspberry Pi single board computer, the project will develop curricula (covering basic programming, circuits, and agent-based modelling), and conduct research on how curricula to teach these concepts should be developed in the future. The thirty hour curriculum will be reviewed by experts, and pilot tested through two rounds of design trials in the lab and one field trial with young learners. These results are expected to inform both the field of learning sciences and the field of human-computer interaction research; and have broader impact through the dissemination of the curricula and bundling of the software with the Raspberry Pi low cost computers.