I-Corps: Scaffolding the acquisition and development of computational algorithmic thinking capabilities in formal and informal learning environments

这个I-Corps项目的广泛影响/商业潜力是双重的。首先，通过结合虚拟助手作为引导者，通过设计笔记本的综合支架系统，以及对学习环境和虚拟环境中的协作交互的支持，该平台有可能提供一个独立的，自定进度的，独立的在线平台，专注于与文化和社会相关的游戏设计，有可能暴露和支持成千上万的学习者，他们目前在美国的社区中没有这些类型的机会，项目或平台。其次，该平台有潜力支持学习者群体之间的全球合作，通过其展示工作的能力和虚拟游戏测试功能，允许用户提供和接收关于游戏设计的实质性反馈，从而告知其迭代设计，从任何地方。这个I-Corps项目提出了一个独特的在线平台，它支持学习者通过游戏设计来实现社会变革，就像SCAT（支持计算算法思维）项目面对面地支持非裔美国中学女生一样（DRK-12 #1150098）。SCAT和它的支架已经被证明是有效的，不仅帮助非裔美国中学女生通过设计游戏来实现社会变革，而且还提高了她们作为批判性思考者和游戏设计师的认知，从而有意从事游戏设计或一些与stem相关的领域。因此，该平台的核心技术是一个独立的在线平台，通过设计和实施面向社会变革的游戏（视频或移动）来支撑学习者，并培养他们的计算算法思维能力。它将被设计为利用SCAT学习环境中脚手架的功能，包括促进者、设计笔记本和其他学者。该平台将包含几个关键的集成子工具，在学习者思考自己的设计、建立联系、做出设计决策、收集反馈以告知游戏的迭代设计、向自己和同伴提出问题、反思自己的经验以及展示自己的创造时，为学习者提供模型和指导。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project are two-fold. First, by combining virtual assistants as facilitators, an integrated system of scaffolds through the Design Notebook, and support for collaborative interactions both within a learning environment as well as virtually, the platform has the potential to provide a self-contained, self-paced, stand-alone online platform focused on culturally- and socially-relevant game design that has the potential to expose and support hundreds of thousands of learners who do not currently have access to these types of opportunities, programs, or platforms within their communities in the United States. Second, the platform has the potential to support global collaborations between groups of learners through its ability to showcase work and its virtual play-testing capabilities that will allow users to give and receive substantive feedback about the design of a game, and thus inform its iterative design, from anywhere.This I-Corps project proposes a unique online platform with supporting scaffolds, that supports learners through game design for social change virtually in similar ways as the SCAT (Supporting Computational Algorithmic Thinking) project supported African-American middle-school girls face-to-face (DRK-12 #1150098). SCAT and its scaffolds have been shown to be effective not only at helping African-American middle-school girls engage in Computing by designing games for social change, but also in improving their perceptions of themselves as critical thinkers and game designers with an intent to pursue game design or some STEM-related field as a result. As such, the core technology of the platform is a stand-alone online platform that scaffolds learners through designing and implementing games (video or mobile) for social change as well as develops their computational algorithmic thinking capabilities. It will be designed to leverage the affordances of the scaffolding in the SCAT Learning Environment including the facilitator, Design Notebook, and other Scholars. The platform will contain several key integrated sub-tools that model and coach learners as they think through their designs, make connections, make design decisions, collect feedback to inform the iterative design of their games, ask questions of themselves and their peers, reflect on their experiences, and showcase what they have created.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.