A Research-Practice Partnership for Developing Computational Thinking through Linguistically and Culturally Relevant CS Curriculum in Middle School

得克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校(UTEP)与埃尔帕索独立学区(EPISD)将发展研究-实践伙伴关系(RPP)，以规划和试点中学计算机科学课程，目的是扩大新兴双语(或英语学习者)学生和拉丁裔/a学生参与计算机科学(CS)教育的范围。该项目将专注于RPP的开发，该RPP可以有效地帮助教师使用双语和与文化相关的工具来发展EPISD中学生的计算思维(CT)技能。通过将与文化相关的CS教育和双语教学的承诺结合在一起，该项目将寻求一种创新的解决方案，以解决在CS教育和职业中拉丁裔/欧裔和新兴双语学生/英语学习者代表性不足的问题。它通过研究-实践伙伴关系来实现这一点，该伙伴关系确保对教育从业者的需求作出反应，并促进将以前由国家科学基金会资助的研究与现有的课堂课程和实践相结合。该项目与未来的推广工作一起，有可能成为至少两个现有大型网络--国家科学基金会资助的国家CAHSI包括联盟和新技术网络--的样板，从而加强努力，扩大代表不足的学生的参与和接触，特别是CS。通过在CAHSI的60个机构中传播，拟议的语言和文化相关方法可能有助于扩大西班牙裔和新兴双语参与的范围，远远超出埃尔帕索地区。RPP合作开发的课程还将通过全国新技术网络PBL课程库传播，全国其他NTN学校都可以访问。该项目的研究表明，与文化相关的CS教育是一种很有前途的方法，可以扩大小规模学生对CS的参与，而双语双语教育是通过采取文化和语言相关的方法来提高新生双语(或英语学习者)的参与度和学业成就的成功方法。具体地说，该项目开发了一个RPP，以规划、共同设计、试点和完善双语(西班牙语和英语)的课程模块，并利用现有的NSF资助的与文化相关的基于游戏的学习平台Sol y Agua(Akbar等人，2018年)，该平台使用当地熟悉的埃尔帕索地区地理和生态来教授计算思维。该项目将解决以下研究问题：(1)教师以何种方式和在多大程度上表现出对计算思维原则和组成部分以及双语原则和教学策略的理解？(2)教师如何使用Sol y Agua基于游戏的学习平台实施与语言和文化相关的PBL模块？以及(3)学生在使用Sol Y Agua参加与语言和文化相关的PBL模块期间和之后，以什么方式和在多大程度上展示了计算思维原理和组成部分的学习？该项目将部署一系列数据收集工作，包括对教师的知识和教学执行情况进行岗前测试、观察、课堂录像、学生书面评估以及来自软件工具Sol y Agua的语言跟踪数据。研究团队将使用定性数据分析技术以及数据挖掘和分类来分析数据。这一奖项反映了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 at El Paso (UTEP), together with El Paso Independent School District (EPISD), will develop a research-practice partnership (RPP) to plan and pilot a linguistically and culturally relevant computer science curriculum in middle school with the goal of broadening the participation of emergent bilingual (or English learner) students and Latino/a students in computer science (CS) education. The project will focus on the development of an RPP that can effectively help teachers use bilingual and culturally relevant tools to develop the computational thinking (CT) skills of middle school students in EPISD. By bringing together the promise of culturally relevant CS education and of dual language instruction, this project will seek an innovative solution to the problem of underrepresentation of Latinas/os and emergent bilingual students/English learners in CS education and careers. It does so through a research-practice partnership that ensures responsiveness to the needs of educational practitioners and facilitates the integration of prior NSF-funded research with existing classroom curriculum and practice. The project, together with future scaling work, potentially can serve as a model in at least two existing large networks-the NSF-funded National CAHSI INCLUDES Alliance and the New Tech Network-strengthening efforts in both to broaden participation and engagement of underrepresented students, with particular focus on CS. Through dissemination across the 60 CAHSI institutions, the proposed linguistically and culturally relevant approach could potentially contribute to broadening Hispanic and emergent bilingual participation much beyond the El Paso region. The curriculum developed collaboratively by the RPP would also be disseminated through the national New Tech Network repository of PBL curriculum, accessible to other NTN schools across the country. The model of integrating culturally responsive CT/CS instruction and linguistically responsive dual language instruction has potential to significantly advance efforts to reach, support, and engage more Hispanic youth in CS learning and careers.The project builds upon research showing that culturally relevant CS education is a promising approach to broadening participation of minoritized students in CS and that dual language bilingual education is a successful approach to improving participation and academic achievement of emergent bilingual (or English learner) students by taking a culturally and linguistically relevant approach to CT/CS instruction for emergent bilingual and Latina/o students. Specifically, the project develops an RPP to plan, co-design, pilot, and refine a curriculum module that is bilingual (Spanish and English) and employs an existing NSF-funded culturally-relevant game-based learning platform, Sol y Agua (Akbar, et al., 2018), that uses locally familiar El Paso area geography and ecology to teach computational thinking. The project will address the following research questions: (1) In what ways and to what extent do teachers demonstrate understanding of computational thinking principles and components and of dual language principles and instructional strategies? (2) How do teachers implement a linguistically and culturally relevant PBL module using Sol y Agua game-based learning platform? And (3) In what ways and to what extent do students demonstrate learning of computational thinking principles and components during and after participating in a linguistically and culturally relevant PBL module using Sol Y Agua? The project will deploy a range of data collection including pre-post testing of teachers' knowledge and implementation of instruction, observation, video recordings of classrooms, and student written assessments and language tracking data from the software tool Sol y Agua. The research team will analyze the data using qualitative data analysis techniques as well as data mining and classification.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.