Diversifying CS with a Biology-themed Introductory CS Course at a Large, Diverse Public University

该项目将创建一门以生物学为主题的计算机科学入门课程，方法是对一所小型私立学院开发的现有课程进行改编和修改，以供伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校使用。该项目的目标是吸引更多的女性进入计算机科学，并使生物专业的学生能够使用计算和计算思维的力量。在不同的学术环境中大规模实施这门课程，将产生一个更广泛采用的课程版本。一个强有力的传播计划将提高人们对这项工作的认识，并将导致该课程在国家一级得到更广泛的采用。该项目的研究部分将对知识库做出重大贡献，了解什么吸引妇女和代表不足的群体使用计算机，以及在小型大学环境中教授该课程时获得的结果是否可以在大型公共机构复制。该项目将使用包括计算机科学态度调查在内的各种方法来衡量学生在计算方面的态度和能力。结果将衡量学生学习计算机科学的信心，他们对计算机科学成功的态度，他们对计算机科学是一个男性领域的看法，他们对计算机科学的有用性的看法，以及他们对计算机科学的动机

This project will create an introductory Computer Science course with a Biology theme, by adapting and modifying an existing course developed at a small private college, for use at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The goal of the project is to attract more women to computer science and enable biology students to use the power of computing and computational thinking. Implementing this course at a large scale, in a different academic setting, will result in a version of the course that will be more widely adoptable. A robust dissemination plan will raise awareness of the work, and will result in broader adoption of the course at a national level.The research component of this project will make significant contributions to the knowledge base about what attracts women and under-represented groups to computing and whether or not the results that were obtained when this course was taught in a small college setting can be replicated at a large public institution. The project will measure student attitudes and capabilities in computing using a variety of methods including the Computer Science Attitudes Survey. The result will be a measure of student confidence learning computer science, their attitude toward success in computer science, their view of computer science as a male domain, their view of the usefulness of computer science, and their motivation in computer science