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

计算和计算思维是现代科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)实践中不可或缺的一部分；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机和STEM领域的比例偏低，因此，迫切需要扩大学生学习计算机的机会。佐治亚理工学院和波多黎各大学将在研究和开发方面进行合作，为美国大陆和波多黎各的拉丁语和西班牙语学生提供学习计算机科学及其在解决STEM领域问题方面的应用的机会。该项目将使用一种创造性的方法教授计算机科学，让拉丁语和西班牙语的学生学习如何在音乐平台EarSketch上编写代码和重新编程。作为非正式STEM学习的典范，课程中与文化相关的教育实践将使学生能够对音乐进行编码和重新编程，包括与他们自己的文化、社区叙事和文化故事讲述相关的声音。研究结果将为寻求为不同人群设计具有文化真实性的活动的教育项目提供信息，作为扩大综合STEM和计算的参与的一种手段。这一广泛的实施项目由推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划资助，该计划旨在促进对非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解，包括扩大获得和参与STEM学习的多种途径，推进对非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，并促进参与者对更深层次学习的理解。作为该项目技术创新的一部分，EarSketch平台将重新设计以实现文化和语言的真实性，其中将包括将传统和当代拉丁音节拍和音乐样本纳入软件中，以便学生可以混音并使用与其文化相关的声音学习编码；并开发该平台的西班牙语版本，可以在英语和西班牙语之间轻松切换。调查人员还将利用与文化相关的教育和文化支持教育学的最佳实践，开发非正式的STEM课程，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，为学生提供真实、文化和语言上丰富的机会。课程设计和实施团队将与拉美裔不同文化团体的成员合作，确保不同学生和网站在语义和内容上的等价性。在学生和站点之间验证干预措施是该项目的目标之一。非正规学习示范课程每年将在亚特兰大和波多黎各的六所学校实施为期一学期的课后方案，并在夏季两次作为为期一周的夏令营实施。课程材料将广泛传播，作为该项目的一部分，将向非正规学习从业者提供培训。这项研究将探索音乐和计算参与方面的差异；音乐和EarSketch计算方面的相互联系；以及该计划在多大程度上促进文化和语言不同的亚特兰大拉丁裔学生群体以及波多黎各文化和语言同质性的拉丁裔学生之间的文化参与。调查人员将使用混合方法设计，从调查、访谈、焦点小组和学生创造的计算/音乐制品中收集数据。这项研究将采用多案例研究方法来分析和比较波多黎各和亚特兰大该项目的关键组成部分的实施情况，并探索这两个地区学生在音乐和计算思维实践方面的差异。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结果的作用，如归属感、坚持性、计算思维、编程内容知识和计算机科学认同感。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，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。

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.