Collaborative Research: Fostering Public Engagement in Computational Thinking by Leveraging Quilting Communities and Practices

作为加强非正式环境中学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）项目资助了用于各种环境的创新研究、方法和资源。试点和可行性研究将为成年绗缝者开设教学讲习班，向他们介绍计算思维。研究人员希望通过利用已有的社会结构、技能组合和对绗缝的参与，帮助参与者发展计算机科学和计算思维知识和技能。长期目标是扩大公众对计算思维的认识，并在计算机科学和其他感兴趣的领域之间建立联系。通过利用社会结构和实践绗缝者所掌握的现有技能，这些讲习班有可能接触到全国和全世界数百万绗缝者的听众，其中大多数是成年妇女。这项研究将由两个小组进行开发和测试：佛罗里达州奥兰多市的奥兰多现代被子协会和马萨诸塞州伍斯特地区的一个非正式聚集的绗缝班。该项目的成果包括可用于全国各种绗缝小组背景的讲习班材料，对通过手工进行成人计算机科学教育的过程和机制的更深入了解，以及对试点讲习班的评估，重点是对参与者参与、自我认同和学习计算思维的影响。这项研究特别侧重于利用已有的知识、兴趣和社会结构来绘制与计算思维的联系，并研究这如何影响参与者自我描述的身份、态度和对计算机科学的参与。该项目还评估了一种教授计算思维的新方法，这种方法在各种社会和创造性爱好中具有广泛的适用性。参与者将使用和修改生成式设计软件来创建被子设计，并在此过程中学习如何通过计算机科学扩展创造性兴趣。通过关注通常与计算机科学无关的绗缝爱好，通过设计和评估研究建立的知识为改变公众对计算机科学的看法提供了策略。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches, and resources for use in a variety of settings. The pilot and feasibility study will develop instructional workshops for an adult population of quilters to introduce them to computational thinking. By leveraging pre-existing social structures, skill sets, and engagement in quilting, the researchers hope to help participants develop computer science and computational thinking knowledge and skills. The long-term goal is to broaden public awareness of computational thinking and build links between computer science and other areas of interest. By leveraging the social structure and existing skills held by practicing quilters, the workshops have the potential to reach an audience of millions of quilters around the nation and worldwide, the majority of whom are adult women.The research will be developed and tested with two groups: the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild in Orlando, FL, and an informally gathered quilting class in the Worcester, MA area. Outcomes for the project include workshop materials that can be used in a variety of quilting group contexts nationwide, a deeper understanding of the processes and mechanisms for adult computer science education through crafts, and evaluation of the pilot workshop focused on the impact on participants' engagement, self-identity, and learning for computational thinking. The research especially focuses on leveraging pre-existing knowledge, interests, and social structures to draw connections to computational thinking, and studying how this impacts participants' self-described identity, attitude, and engagement with computer science. The project also assesses a novel method for teaching computational thinking that has potential for broad applicability in a variety of social and creative hobbies. Participants will use and modify generative design software that creates quilt designs and, in doing so, learn how creative interests can be expanded through computer science. By focusing on the hobby of quilting, which is not typically associated with computer science, the knowledge built through designing and evaluating the research offers strategies for altering public perception of computer science.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.