Collaborative Research Broadening Participation of Latinx Students in Computer Science by Integrating Culturally Relevant Computational Music Practices

通过整合文化相关的计算音乐实践来扩大拉丁裔学生对计算机科学的参与合作研究

• 批准号: 2005791
• 负责人: Diley Hernandez
• 金额: $ 207.96万
• 依托单位: Georgia Tech Research Corporation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2005791&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Broadening; Participation; Latinx

Computing and computational thinking are integral to the practice of modern science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM); therefore, computational skills are essential for students’ preparation to participate in computationally intensive STEM fields and the emerging workforce. In the U.S., Latinx and Spanish speaking students are underrepresented in computing and STEM fields, therefore, expanding opportunities for students to learn computing is an urgent need. The Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Puerto Rico will collaborate on research and development that will provide Latinx and Spanish speaking students in the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico, opportunities to learn computer science and its application in solving problems in STEM fields. The project will use a creative approach to teaching computer science by engaging Latinx and Spanish speaking students in learning how to code and reprogram in a music platform, EarSketch. The culturally relevant educational practices of the curriculum, as a model for informal STEM learning, will enable students to code and reprogram music, including sounds relevant to their own cultures, community narratives, and cultural storytelling. Research results will inform education programs seeking to design culturally authentic activities for diverse populations as a means to broaden participation in integrated STEM and Computing. This Broad Implementation project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments, including multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants.As part of the technical innovation of the project, the EarSketch platform will be redesigned for cultural and linguistic authenticity that will include incorporating traditional and contemporary Latin sound beats and musical samples into the software so that students can remix music and learn coding using sounds relevant to their cultures; and developing a Spanish version of the platform, with a toggle to easily switch between English and Spanish. Investigators will also develop an informal STEM curriculum using best practices from Culturally Relevant Education and Cultural Sustaining Pedagogy that provides authentic, culturally and linguistically rich opportunities for student engagement by establishing direct and constant connections to their cultures, communities and lived experiences. The curriculum design and implementation team will work collaboratively with members of Latinx diverse cultural groups to ensure semantic and content equivalency across diverse students and sites. Validating the intervention across students and sites is one of the goals of the project. The model curriculum for informal learning will be implemented as a semester long afterschool program in six schools per year in Atlanta and Puerto Rico, and as a one-week summer camp twice in the summer. The curricular materials will be broadly disseminated, and training will be provided to informal learning practitioners as part of the project. The research will explore differences in musical and computational engagement; the interconnection between music and the computational aspects of EarSketch; and the degree to which the program promotes cultural engagement among culturally and linguistically heterogenous groups of Latinx students in Atlanta, and more culturally and linguistically homogenous Latinx students in Puerto Rico. Investigators will use a mixed method design to collect data from surveys, interviews, focus groups, and computational/musical artifacts created by students. The study will employ multiple case study methodology to analyze and compare the implementation of the critical components of the program in Puerto Rico and Atlanta, and to explore differences in students’ musical and computational thinking practices in the two regions. Results from the research will determine the impact of the curriculum on computer science skills and associated computational practices; and contribute to the understanding of the role of cultural engagement on educational outcomes such as sense of belonging, persistence, computational thinking, programming content knowledge and computer science identity. Results will inform education programs designing culturally authentic and engaging programming for diverse populations of Latinx youths.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.

计算和计算思维是现代科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）实践的组成部分;因此，计算技能对于学生准备参与计算密集型STEM领域和新兴劳动力至关重要。在美国，拉丁语和西班牙语学生在计算和STEM领域的代表性不足，因此，扩大学生学习计算的机会是一个迫切的需要。格鲁吉亚理工学院和波多黎各大学将合作研究和开发，为美国大陆和波多黎各讲拉丁语和西班牙语的学生提供学习计算机科学及其在解决STEM领域问题中的应用的机会。该项目将使用创造性的方法来教授计算机科学，让拉丁裔和西班牙语学生学习如何在音乐平台EarSketch中编码和重新编程。该课程的文化相关教育实践，作为非正式STEM学习的模式，将使学生能够编码和重新编程音乐，包括与自己的文化，社区叙事和文化故事相关的声音。研究结果将为教育计划提供信息，这些计划旨在为不同人群设计文化真实的活动，作为扩大综合STEM和计算参与的一种手段。该广泛实施项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进新方法和基于证据的理解，在非正式环境中设计和开发STEM学习，包括扩大获得和参与STEM学习的多种途径，推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及发展参与者对深入学习的理解。作为项目技术创新的一部分，EarSketch平台将根据文化和语言的真实性进行重新设计，包括将传统和现代拉丁语的声音节拍和音乐样本纳入软件，以便学生可以重新混合音乐并使用相关的声音学习编码他们的文化;并开发了一个西班牙语版本的平台，可以在英语和西班牙语之间轻松切换。研究人员还将开发一个非正式的STEM课程，使用文化相关教育和文化维持教学法的最佳实践，通过与他们的文化，社区和生活经验建立直接和持续的联系，为学生参与提供真实，文化和语言丰富的机会。课程设计和实施团队将与拉丁美洲不同文化群体的成员合作，以确保不同学生和网站的语义和内容等效。验证学生和研究中心的干预措施是该项目的目标之一。非正式学习的示范课程将在亚特兰大和波多黎各的六所学校每年实施一个学期的课后计划，并在夏季举办两次为期一周的夏令营。作为该项目的一部分，将广泛散发教材，并向非正式学习从业人员提供培训。该研究将探讨音乐和计算参与的差异;音乐和EarSketch的计算方面之间的相互联系;以及该计划在多大程度上促进亚特兰大拉丁裔学生的文化和语言异质群体之间的文化参与，以及波多黎各更多文化和语言同质的拉丁裔学生。调查人员将使用混合方法设计来收集来自调查，访谈，焦点小组和学生创建的计算/音乐文物的数据。该研究将采用多个案例研究方法来分析和比较该计划的关键组成部分在波多黎各和亚特兰大的实施，并探讨学生的音乐和计算思维的做法在这两个地区的差异。研究结果将确定课程对计算机科学技能和相关计算实践的影响;并有助于理解文化参与对教育成果的作用，如归属感，持久性，计算思维，编程内容知识和计算机科学身份。结果将告知教育计划设计文化真实性和吸引不同人群的Latinx youth.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。