Lets Talk Code: Broadening Computing Education among Native Americans by Blending Code with Nature, Art and Culture

纳瓦霍技术大学领导“让我们谈谈代码”项目，研究一种向亚利桑那州和新墨西哥州纳瓦霍民族（NN）部落地区的高中生介绍计算机科学（CS）的新方法。它的名字源于纳瓦霍密语者的贡献和遗产，他们在第二次世界大战盟军的胜利中发挥了关键作用。就像纳瓦霍编码者设计了他们自己的代码，并通过纳瓦霍语言创造了一种新的交流方式一样，这些学生将通过共同开发的根植于文化的课程来学习做同样的事情，这些课程是在与纳瓦霍文化密切相关的现实问题解决活动的背景下进行的。该项目的目标是提高学生的计算技能，重点是为他们在计算机科学预修课程（AP）中取得成功做好准备，并激励他们攻读计算机科学学位。该项目旨在帮助NN高中的数学、科学和艺术教师在现有课程中开发基于CS的项目，并为随后几年开设AP计算机科学原理（CSP）课程提供指导和指导。该计划将包括为期两周的专业发展计划和后续活动。在参与STEM和计算机职业方面，美国原住民（NA）历来是最未被充分代表的群体。纳瓦霍人是美国最大的部落群体之一，了解障碍并制定解决方案以增加他们的参与，将对如何在北美部落高中教授计算机的研究和实践产生深远的影响。项目Let 's Talk Code （LTC）是一个研究从业者合作伙伴关系（RPP），旨在研究一种向亚利桑那州和新墨西哥州纳瓦霍民族（NN）部落地区的高中生介绍计算机科学（CS）的新方法。RPP的目标是提高学生的计算技能，重点是为他们在预修计算机科学课程中取得成功做好准备，并激励他们攻读计算机科学学位。该项目旨在帮助NN高中的数学、科学和艺术教师在现有课程中开发基于CS的项目，并为随后几年开设AP计算机科学原理（CSP）课程提供指导和指导。该计划将包括为期两周的专业发展计划和后续活动。它的框架建立在Code.org开发的广泛使用的AP计算机科学原理（CSP）课程的基础上，并忠实于编写、编辑、编译和执行代码的原则，同时通过植根于纳瓦霍文化背景的现实世界的例子提供额外的意义。项目团队将与部落社区利益相关者、管理人员、教师和地区学院合作，设计和开发课程，并将其广泛应用于网络社区。RPP的结构是一个迭代的循证设计项目，教师（实践者）与一个由研究人员和计算机科学教育者组成的多机构团队合作，以改善其合作伙伴（高中和地区学院）的能力建设需求。它包括对通过提供专业发展培训课程、课后项目和同伴对同伴指导收集的定性和定量数据进行混合方法分析。在项目期间，频繁和及时的分析有助于课程的共同创造和共同设计。项目期间的能力建设活动，例如创建实践社区，将确保长期的可持续性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Navajo Technical University leads Project Let’s Talk Code to investigate a novel approach to introduce Computer Science (CS) to high school students in the Navajo Nation (NN) tribal region in Arizona and New Mexico. Its name is rooted in the contributions and legacy of the Navajo Code Talkers, who played a pivotal role in the Allied forces’ victory in World War II. Just like the Navajo Code Talkers engineered their own code and created a new way of communicating through the Navajo language, these students will learn to do the same through a co-developed culturally rooted curriculum that is contextualized in real-world problem-solving activities that are intimately connected to the Navajo culture. The goal of the project is to improve students’ computational skills with a focus on preparing them to succeed in the Advance Placement (AP) computer science courses and motivate them to enroll in CS degrees. The project aims to help math, science and art teachers from NN high schools develop CS based projects in their existing courses and provide mentorship and guidance towards offering AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) courses in the subsequent years. The program will include a two-week professional development program and follow-up activities. Native Americans (NA) have historically been the most underrepresented population when it comes to participating in STEM and computing careers. The Navajo are one of the largest NA groups in the country and understanding the barriers and developing solutions to increase their participation will have far reaching consequences on informing the research and practice on how computing can be taught at NA tribal high schools.Project Let’s Talk Code (LTC) is a Research Practitioner Partnership (RPP) that investigates a novel approach to introduce Computer Science (CS) to high school students in the Navajo Nation (NN) tribal region in Arizona and New Mexico. The goal of the RPP is to improve students’ computational skills with a focus on preparing them to succeed in the Advance Placement (AP) computer science courses and motivate them to enroll in CS degrees. The project aims to help math, science and art teachers from NN high schools develop CS based projects in their existing courses and provide mentorship and guidance towards offering AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) courses in the subsequent years. The program will include a two-week professional development program and follow-up activities. Its framework builds on a widely used AP computer science principles (CSP) curriculum developed by Code.org and stays true to the principles of writing, editing, compiling and executing code, while providing additional meaning via culturally rooted real-world examples that are contextualized in the Navajo culture. The project team will engage tribal community stakeholders, administrators, teachers and regional colleges in the design and development of the curriculum and its broader application in the NN community. The RPP is structured as an iterative evidence-based design project where the teachers (practitioners) work with a multi-institutional team of researchers and CS educators to improve the capacity building needs of its partners (high schools and regional colleges). It includes a mixed-methods analysis of qualitative and quantitative data collected by offering professional development training sessions, after school programs and peer-to-peer mentoring. Frequent and timely analysis feeds into the co-creation and co-design of the curriculum during the duration of the project. Capacity building activities during the project such as the creation of communities of practices will ensure long term sustainability.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.