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茁壮成长，甚至生存下来，美国必须积极地迎接挑战，增加完成计算机领域学位的学生数量。保持一支具有全球竞争力的计算机劳动力队伍，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（Bureau of Labor Statistics）预测，计算机和信息技术职业的就业增长速度预计将超过所有职业的平均水平（从2014年到2024年将增长12%）。为了使我们的国家保持在技术的前沿，我们必须在计算机专业留住更多的国内学生。总统科学技术顾问委员会（PCAST） 2012年发布的一份关于本科STEM教育的报告指出，“乏味”的入门课程和教师不友好的氛围是导致学生流失的主要因素。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的意义、谁的知识有价值，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，从建议的努力中获得的技能和知识有望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机劳动力的准备。此外，为应对全球挑战和机遇，需要在重视多元经验和观点的成员中发展包容性环境。该项目的首要目标是培养学生、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，这些课程是由对全球化世界中不同学生对CS的文化贡献的理解和欣赏所驱动的。该项目的目标是：(1)将计算机科学课程（即内容，教学原则，社会互动和教师信念）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，建立一种联系氛围，重点是建立文化能力和包容性环境。结果将是双重的：(i)在整个学习计划中，激励、联系和沉浸在不同背景的专业学生的学习计划；（ii）具有深厚文化能力的教师，他们使用基于实践的专业学习来促进系统变革。由此产生的模型通过深刻改变CS教学和学习，以社会意识，文化能力和实践为基础的课程，由该部门作为西班牙裔服务机构和西班牙裔服务机构计算联盟（CAHSI）的领导者的独特专业知识和经验告知。该项目的理论基础是基于情境认知的学习理论，源自社会文化理论。为了产生关于以过程为导向的CS深层教育变革方法的新知识，这项工作包括对变革过程和教育过程的民族志研究，特别关注多样性、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.