IUSE/PFE:RED: A Model of Change for Preparing a New Generation for Professional Practice in Computer Science

为了在全球化的思想和创新市场中蓬勃发展甚至生存，美国必须积极应对增加计算机领域完成学位的学生数量的挑战。保持具有全球竞争力的计算劳动力对我们的经济和社会健康以及国家安全至关重要。美国劳工统计局预测，计算机和信息技术职业的就业增长速度预计将快于所有职业的平均水平（2014年至2024年为12%）。为了使我们的国家保持在技术的前沿，我们必须留住更多的国内学生在计算机程序。 2012年，美国总统科技顾问理事会（PCAST）发布了一份关于本科生STEM教育的报告，报告称“缺乏灵感”的入门课程和教师不受欢迎的氛围是造成人员流失的主要因素。德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校（UTEP）的这个项目旨在通过重新想象学习意味着什么，谁的知识重要，以及在计算机科学（CS）的背景下什么是知识来解决PCAST的发现。 UTEP模式将教师转变为变革推动者，并在课程早期促进积极学生身份的发展，以影响学生在CS及其他领域的发展轨迹。同样重要的是，从拟议的努力中获得的技能和知识预计将转移到学生学习的其他科目，减少学生获得学位的时间，并加强他们进入计算劳动力市场的准备。此外，需要与重视多元和多样化经验和观点的成员建立包容性环境，以应对全球挑战和机遇。该项目的总体目标是培养学生，教师和行业之间的社会意识联系。这将通过扩大以加强社会互动为中心的课程来实现，该课程由对不同学生在全球化世界中对CS的文化贡献的理解和欣赏所驱动。 该项目的目标是：（1）改造计算机科学课程（即，课程内容、教学原则、社会互动和教师信仰）转变为建立学生作为计算机科学家的身份并在解决问题时考虑社会和全球背景的课程;（2）通过教师之间的共同目标感，培养一种相互联系的氛围，重点是建立文化能力和包容性环境。 结果将是双重的：（i）一个学习计划，激励，连接，并沉浸在整个学习计划的专业来自不同背景的学生;和（ii）谁使用专业实践为基础的学习，以促进系统性变革具有深厚的文化能力的教师。由此产生的模型转换CS教学和学习通过深刻的变化，以课程接地社会意识，文化能力，并通过部门的独特的专业知识和经验，作为一个西班牙裔服务机构和西班牙裔服务机构（CAHSI）的计算联盟的领导者通知实践。 该项目的理论基础是基于来自社会文化理论的情境认知学习理论。为了产生新的知识，以过程为导向的方法，在CS深刻的教育变革，努力包括对变革过程和教育过程的人种学研究，特别注意多样性，包容性和专业实践。

In order to thrive and even survive in the globalized marketplace of ideas and innovation, the U.S. must aggressively meet the challenge of increasing the number of students who complete degrees in computing areas. It is critical for our economic and social health, as well as national security, to maintain a globally competitive computing workforce. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment of computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations (12% from 2014 to 2024). In order to keep our nation on the cutting edge of technology, we must retain more domestic students in computing programs. A 2012 report on undergraduate STEM education from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) cites "uninspiring" introductory courses and an unwelcoming atmosphere from faculty as major factors contributing to attrition. The project at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) aims to address the PCAST findings by re-imagining what it means to learn, whose knowledge counts, and what counts as knowledge in the context of Computer Science (CS). The UTEP model transforms faculty into change agents and fosters the development of positive student identities early in the curriculum to impact students' trajectories in CS and beyond. As important, the acquired skills and knowledge from the proposed effort are expected to transfer to other subjects in students' studies, decrease students' time to degree, and strengthen their preparedness for entry into the computing workforce. Further, the development of inclusive environments with members who value multiple and diverse experiences and perspectives is needed to address global challenges and opportunities.The overarching goal of the project is to cultivate socially conscious connectedness among students, faculty, and industry. This will be accomplished by expanding a curriculum centered on heightened social interaction driven by an understanding and appreciation for the cultural contributions of diverse students to CS in a globalized world. The project objectives are to (1) transform the CS curriculum (i.e., content, pedagogical principles, social interaction, and faculty beliefs) to one that builds students' identities as computer scientists and considers societal and global contexts in problem solving; and (2) develop a climate of connectedness through a shared sense of purpose among faculty focused on establishing cultural competence and inclusive environments. The outcome will be twofold: (i) a program of study that motivates, connects, and immerses students from diverse backgrounds in the profession throughout their plan of study; and (ii) faculty with deep cultural competence who use professional practice-based learning to foster systemic change. The resulting model transforms CS teaching and learning through deep change to curriculum grounded in social consciousness, cultural competency, and practice informed by the department's unique expertise and experiences as a Hispanic-serving institution and leader of the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI). The theoretical underpinnings of the project are framed on theories of learning informed by situated cognition, derived from sociocultural theory. In order to generate new knowledge about a process-oriented approach to deep educational change in CS, the effort includes ethnographic research on the change process and the education process paying particular attention to diversity, inclusion and professional practice.