Broadening Participation of Latina/o Students in Engineering Using an Integrated Mathematics, Engineering and Computing Curriculum in Authentic, Out-of-School Environments

该项目的目标是鼓励城市和农村的中学生参与从事STEM和计算机(STEM C)职业。该项目将开发一个综合课程，支持通过基本的数学概念学习计算和工程基础知识。课后学习的重点是计算机工程师的真实工作，学生学习计算机编程、工程设计和数学概念。研究中的中学中拉丁裔/非拉丁裔学生的入学率很高，这一群体在美国大学STEM专业和STEM职业生涯中的比例偏低。学生的学习以及他们对STEM C职业的态度和兴趣将构成本研究的核心焦点。STEM计算伙伴关系(STEM C)计划旨在通过一个或多个领域的应用研究和开发，推动STEM教学和学习中计算的多学科整合；将STEM整合到计算机科学中；并扩大对计算机科学的参与。在教育学、职前和在职教师专业发展等关键领域进行了投资。该项目将推动学生和教师创新技术体验(ITEST)计划的努力，以更好地了解和促进提高学生在科学、技术、工程或数学(STEM)领域追求职业生涯的动机和能力的实践。该项目将解决研究问题，调查学生对工程、数学和计算机编程实践和概念的学习。这些问题考察了如何设计经验和资源来帮助学生在编程任务上进行协作，并了解STEM C相关的职业。研究设计结合了定量和定性数据。学生的基准数据将记录他们在计算思维、数学和工程方面的知识、态度和动机。随后的数据收集将记录他们的工作，重点是他们在计算机工程和数学方面的学习和参与。这项研究还将从本科生辅导员、中学生协导员和教师那里收集数据，以了解如何设计学习环境来支持学生学习计算机工程与数学相结合的课程，尤其是拉丁裔/o学习者。总体而言，该项目的结果应该会为进一步的课程设计提供参考，以便在中学环境中整合数学、计算和工程，并支持拉丁裔/o学生在这些领域的学习。

The goals of the project are to motivate the participation of middle school students in urban and rural settings to pursue STEM and computing (STEM+C) careers. The project will develop an integrated curriculum that supports the learning of computing and engineering fundamentals through the underlying mathematics concepts. The after-school learning experiences focus on authentic work of computer engineers, student learning about computer programming, engineering design, and mathematics concepts. The middle schools in the study have high enrollment of Latina/o students, a population which is under-represented in STEM majors in college and in STEM careers in the United States. Student learning and their attitudes toward and interests in STEM+C careers will make up the core focus of the research. The STEM+Computing Partnership (STEM+C) program seeks to advance multidisciplinary integration of computing in STEM teaching and learning through applied research and development across one or more domains; integration of STEM in computer science; and broadening participation in computer science. Investments are made in critical areas of pedagogy, pre-service and in-service teacher professional development. This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). The project will address research questions that investigate student learning about engineering, mathematics and computer programming practices and concepts. The questions examine how the experience and resources can be designed to help students collaborate on programming tasks and learn about STEM+C related careers. The research design incorporates quantitative and qualitative data. The baseline data for students will document their knowledge, attitudes, and motivation related to computational thinking, mathematics and engineering. Subsequent data collection will document their work with a focus on their learning and engagement in computer engineering and mathematics. The study will also collect data from undergraduate student facilitators, middle school student co-facilitators, and teachers to understand how learning environments can be designed to support student learning of computer engineering integrated with mathematics with a particular focus on Latina/o learners. Overall, the project results should inform further curriculum design for integrating mathematics, computing, and engineering in middle school settings and supporting Latina/o students' learning in these domains.