Broadening Participation in Computer Science Through Programming and the Arts Across Learning Spaces

这项提议建立在西北大学和伊利诺伊州埃文斯顿/斯科基第65学区之间现有的研究人员-实践者合作伙伴关系的基础上，以开发一个共享平台和专业发展框架，以支持跨学校、社区中心、图书馆和家庭网络的计算学习。目前的提案旨在制定方法，在学校内外策划和安排学习活动，使青年参与长期项目，展示计算机编程的个人和专业价值，并举例说明计算是实现创造性和个人实现目标的一种手段。该项目探索了一种模式，通过涉及编程、音乐和舞蹈的三管齐下的方法，扩大对计算机科学和相关领域的参与。首先，研究人员将为学习者提供工具，让他们参与到对个人、社会和文化有意义的计算项目中。其次，该项目将开发一系列以音乐为主题的计算机科学学习机会，旨在学校和校外空间之间和之间工作。最后，该项目将为学习者创建和研究创新的方法，通过采用在数据科学和计算科学界日益流行的计算笔记本范例(例如，Jupyter、Wolfram笔记本)，记录他们对计算机编程和音乐的新兴理解。研究的一个前提是，音乐是一种占主导地位的文化形式，与计算机科学的概念有许多直接的相似之处。数字艺术中的新兴流派有可能为来自计算机领域长期代表性不足的群体的年轻人提供激励环境。研究人员将通过佐治亚理工学院开发的两个编程环境向学生介绍计算思维。还将设计一套跨越学习空间网络的活动和程序，让学生沉浸在计算机编程中。研究人员将使用各种方法，包括访谈、调查和人工制品分析，记录学生在不同背景和时间内的学习情况。通过与研究人员-实践者伙伴关系中的多个合作伙伴接触，研究人员将对青年参与以及跨环境支持和加强学习的方式产生丰富的理解。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。

This proposal builds on an existing researcher-practitioner partnership between Northwestern University and Evanston/Skokie School District 65 in Illinois to develop a shared platform and professional development framework that supports computational learning across a network of schools, community centers, libraries, and homes. The current proposal seeks to develop ways to curate and structure learning activities in and outside of schools in ways that engage youth in long-term projects, demonstrate both the personal and professional value of computer programming, and exemplify computation as a means to achieve creative and personally fulfilling goals. The project explores a model for broadening participation in computer science and related fields through a three-pronged approach involving programming, music, and dance. First, the researchers will provide learners with tools that engage them in computational projects that are personally, socially, and culturally meaningful. Second, the project will develop a continuum of music-themed computer science learning opportunities designed to work between and across school and out-of-school spaces. Finally, the project will create and study innovative ways for learners to document their emerging understandings of both computer programming and music by adopting the computational notebook paradigm that is increasingly popular in data science and computational science communities (e.g., Jupyter, Wolfram Notebooks).One premise of the research is that music is a dominant cultural form of literacy with many direct parallels to computer science concepts. Emerging genres in the digital arts have the potential to provide a motivational context for youth from groups chronically underrepresented in computing fields. The researchers will introduce students to computational thinking through two programming environments developed at Georgia Institute of Technology. A set of activities and programs across a network of learning spaces will also be designed to immerse students in computer programming. The researchers will use a variety of methods, including interviews, surveys, and artifact analysis, to document student learning across contexts and over time. By engaging with multiple partners in the researcher-practitioner partnerships, the researchers will develop a rich understanding of youth engagement and the ways that learning can be supported and reinforced across contexts.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.