CAREER: Designing a New Nexus: Examining the Social Construction of Electronics and Computing Toolkits to Broaden Participation and Deepen Learning

美国大学和学院计算机和信息科学专业的性别构成一直不平衡，这表明计算机教育中的性别差距仍然很大。尽管有几项国家倡议使STEM领域的参与多样化，但计算机教育的潜在文化仍然相对停滞不前，课程、工具和材料继续强调历史上更贴近男性利益的领域，而不是女性利益。该项目采用了一个非常不同的起点，通过关注年轻女孩如何学习来理解女性在STEM职业中代表性不足的挑战。通过理解学习工具和材料的社会属性，教育工作者和技术人员可以为所有年轻人设计更公平的学习环境，并扩展当前的学习理论，以更好地理解工具和人工制品在学习过程中的作用。理解学习的核心是各种工具和技术之间的关系以及学科主题的结构。然而，对于工具和材料如何在这一新兴技术领域塑造学习和参与的当代理解，很少有实证研究存在。通过一系列系统和横切的研究调查，本项目为当代电子工具和材料（如纸质计算、软性电路、电子纺织品等工具包）如何影响学习和参与提供了理论基础。每次调查都发生在复杂的现实环境中，如学校和课外俱乐部；包括制订新的评估办法；阐明创建新工具和教育生态系统的设计原则，以更好地支持学习和公平参与；并探讨了基于这些新兴原则的新工具包和零件的设计。以设计为基础的研究指导每项研究的方法，并与实践者协商，以帮助确保每个拟议的活动系统有效地补充课程和实践现实。

The persistently lopsided gender makeup of computer and information science programs in US universities and colleges suggests that the gender gap in computing education is still obstinately wide. Despite several national initiatives to diversify participation in STEM fields, the underlying culture of computing education remains relatively stagnant, with curriculum, tools and materials that continue to emphasize areas historically aligned more closely with male interests than women's. This project takes a very different starting point to understanding the pipeline challenge of women's underrepresentation in STEM careers through focusing on how young girls learn. Through understanding the socially situated nature of learning tools and materials, educators and technologists can design more equitable learning environments for all youth and extend current learning theory to better understand the role of tools and artifacts in the learning process.Central to the understanding of learning is the relationship between various tools and technologies and the structuring of disciplinary subject matter. However, very little empirical research exists to inform contemporary understanding of how tools and materials shape learning and participation across this emerging technological landscape. Through a series of systematic and crosscutting research investigations, this project provides a basis for theorizing how contemporary electronic tools and materials (e.g., toolkits like paper computing, squishy circuits, e-textiles) shape learning and participation. Each investigation occurs in the complexities of real-world settings such as schools and afterschool clubs; includes the development of new sets of assessments; illuminates design principles for creating new tools and educational ecosystems to better support learning and equitable participation; and explores the design of new toolkits and parts based on these emergent principles. Design-based research guides the methods of each study, in consultation with practitioners to help ensure each proposed activity system effectively complements curricular and practical realities.