Accelerating Women's Success and Mastery in CS (AWSM in CS)

得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校提出了一个项目--在CS(加速女性在计算机科学中的成功和掌握)中的AWSM，该项目开发了一个网络改进社区(NIC)，以提高高中计算机科学(CS)课程中女性的招聘、留住和成功。随着CSfor All运动在全国范围内获得吸引力，越来越多的人对K-12 CS教育的重要性达成共识，这导致许多学生获得了更多的机会。在德克萨斯州，K-12 CS课程的总入学人数在过去五年中大幅增加(124%)，有色人种学生的入学人数(增加154%)和低收入学生的入学人数(增加156%)也是如此。然而，女性入学人数没有看到类似的增长(增长了104%)。CS的AWSM旨在改变这一点。儿童保护协会的研究人员和从业人员将进行根本原因分析，以通过招聘、教学和学校/社区文化/政策的背景，审查妇女代表性不足的主要驱动因素。然后，它将实施和测试一种全面的、以研究为基础的方法，以解决女性代表性不足的问题，并在三年的PDSA(计划-做-研究-法案)周期中反复进行干预，以建立其有效性。NIC从业者将通过虚拟和面对面的专业发展和网络构建体验获得支持。结果，包括女性注册和完成CS课程，高级选修(AP)考试和表现，以及随后的CS课程注册。将对NIC在满足教师和学生需求方面的作用进行定性研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The University of Texas Austin proposes a project -- AWSM in CS (Accelerating Women's Success and Mastery in Computer Science, pronounced "Awesome in CS") -- that develops a Networked Improvement Community (NIC) to improve the recruitment, retention and success of females in high school computer science (CS) courses. There is a growing consensus on the importance of K-12 CS education as the CSforAll movement gains traction across the country, and this has resulted in increased access for many students. In Texas, overall student enrollment in K-12 CS has increased substantially over the past five years (124% increase), as has the participation for students of color (154% increase) and for low-income students (156% increase). Similar gains, however, have not been seen for female enrollment (104% increase). AWSM in CS aims to change that. AWSM in CS researchers and practitioners will engage in a root cause analysis to examine the primary drivers for the underrepresentation of women through the context of recruitment, instruction, and school/community culture/policy. It will then implement and test a holistic, research-based approach to tackling female underrepresentation with three years of PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) cycles to iterate on interventions to build their effectiveness. NIC practitioners will be supported through virtual and in-person professional development and network building experiences. Outcomes including female enrollment and completion of CS courses, Advanced Placement (AP) test taking and performance, and subsequent CS course enrollment will be measured. The role of the NIC in addressing teacher and student needs will be researched qualitatively.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.