Enhancing Critical Reasoning in Computer Education

增强计算机教育中的批判性推理

• 批准号: 1565586
• 负责人: John Etienne
• 金额: $ 19.64万
• 依托单位: St. Johns River State College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-07-01 至 2019-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1565586&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Enhancing; Critical; Reasoning; Computer; Education

Working collaboratively with industry partners, this project at Saint Johns River State College in Florida is designed to increase the practical knowledge, critical thinking skills, and work-readiness of computer science and information technology (CS/IT) graduates to meet local industry demand for highly trained technicians in the CS/IT fields in Northeast Florida by incorporating problem-based learning (PBL) and emphasizing critical thinking throughout the computer education curriculum. Incorporation of PBL in CS/IT is also designed to increase participation, retention, and success of women. The program will leverage student talent to address current community problems and expose students to the need for CS/IT in fields outside the traditional industries by incorporating community-based learning techniques in the capstone course. The project will be disseminated through the project website, ATE Central, and an annual Curriculum Showcase. Curriculum development projects will be widely available for use and adaption by other CS/IT training programs.The project will expand the critical thinking skills of CS/IT graduates and impact more than 200 students per year taking foundational and higher level courses leading to 11 college credit certificates and 4 associate degrees in Networking, Programming, Information Technology and Internet Services. Specifically, 1) the foundational introductory classes will be revised to teach key technical and critical thinking processes through problems drawn directly from industry, 2) critical thinking and problem-solving learning outcomes will be mapped and integrated in higher level courses, and 3) the capstone course will be revised to require students to work with community and industry leaders to identify and develop novel solutions for current, real-life challenges. Local business members will participate as members of the curriculum design team, provide problems, and review the new curriculum. The entire CS/IT faculty, including adjunct faculty, will be involved in the program design and implementation to benefit from the technical expertise of all CS/IT fields and ensure that new pedagogies are implemented across the curriculum. They will participate in curriculum redesign efforts and in professional development activities to share pedagogical changes and incorporate PBL consistently and effectively. Tutors from academic support centers at the college will be included in professional development trainings to ensure they are prepared to assist students with the new problem-based curriculum. Students will develop technical skills, cultivate critical reasoning and creative abilities, and be prepared to innovate, adapt and thrive in the competitive and evolving CS/IT industry. The program will draw from successful PBL programs in engineering and computer education to integrate additional critical thinking and hands-on learning with the strong technical aspects of the current CS/IT curriculum. This will ensure that skills that students need to gain in the courses will meet the new and evolving needs of industry. New PBL pedagogies will be built-in through a step-wise process beginning with the foundational courses. The effectiveness of these changes will be evaluated and improvement made prior to incorporation into the next level of courses. Gains in critical thinking will be determined through pre- and post-test assessments. An independent evaluator will provide an annual summative and formative review of the program.

与行业合作伙伴合作，这个项目在圣约翰河州立学院在佛罗里达的目的是增加实践知识，批判性思维能力，和计算机科学和信息技术（CS/IT）毕业生的工作准备，以满足当地行业对佛罗里达东北部CS/IT领域训练有素的技术人员的需求，并结合基于问题的学习（PBL）并在整个计算机教育课程中强调批判性思维。在CS/IT中纳入PBL也是为了提高妇女的参与率、保留率和成功率。该计划将利用学生的才能来解决当前的社区问题，并通过将基于社区的学习技术纳入顶点课程，使学生了解传统行业以外领域对CS/IT的需求。该项目将通过项目网站、ATE Central和年度课程展示进行传播。课程开发项目将广泛用于其他CS/IT培训项目的使用和调整。该项目将扩大CS/IT毕业生的批判性思维技能，每年影响200多名学生参加基础和更高水平的课程，最终获得11个大学学分证书和4个网络，编程，信息技术和互联网服务副学士学位。具体而言，1）基础入门课程将进行修订，通过直接从行业中提取的问题教授关键技术和批判性思维过程，2）批判性思维和解决问题的学习成果将被映射并整合到更高级别的课程中，以及3）顶点课程将进行修订，要求学生与社区和行业领导者合作，为当前，现实生活中的挑战。当地企业成员将作为课程设计团队的成员参加，提供问题，并审查新的课程。整个CS/IT教师，包括兼职教师，将参与计划的设计和实施，从所有CS/IT领域的技术专长中受益，并确保在整个课程中实施新的课程。他们将参与课程重新设计工作和专业发展活动，以分享教学改革，并一贯有效地纳入PBL。来自学院学术支持中心的导师将参加专业发展培训，以确保他们准备好帮助学生学习新的基于问题的课程。学生将发展技术技能，培养批判性推理和创造性能力，并准备在竞争激烈和不断发展的CS/IT行业中创新，适应和发展。该计划将借鉴工程和计算机教育中成功的PBL课程，将额外的批判性思维和实践学习与当前CS/IT课程的强大技术方面相结合。这将确保学生需要在课程中获得的技能将满足行业的新的和不断变化的需求。新的PBL课程将通过从基础课程开始的逐步过程来建立。在纳入下一级课程之前，将对这些变化的效果进行评估，并作出改进。批判性思维的收获将通过测试前和测试后的评估来确定。一名独立的评估员将对该计划进行年度总结性和形成性审查。