CAREER: Investigating the Use of Empathy-Building Interventions in Experiential Computing Education

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。该项目旨在通过了解如何教学生创建包容性和公正的软件来服务于国家利益。该项目的重点是制定建立同情心的干预措施，并研究其对学生的影响。据推测，移情创建干预措施将通过增加学生对计算主题的理解和动机来推进体验式计算教育，并将导致开发更公平和更具包容性的软件。该项目将产生关于移情创建干预在软件工程中的影响的知识，创建移情的最有效的方法，以及在体验式计算教育中包括移情创建干预的适当方法。拟议的工作将是第一个已知的实质性努力，以开发和评估在体验式计算教育的移情创建干预。该项目解决的具体目标包括：1）理解在体验式计算教育中创建移情干预的好处和影响，2）认识到在体验式计算教育中包括创建移情干预的适当方法，3）了解经验性的移情干预是否有助于减少偏见。这项工作将举例说明两种形式的干预措施在建立同理心的有效性：经验和表达为基础的干预措施。基于经验的干预措施允许感知者通过目标的视角使用动手或理论活动来遇到一个场景。基于表达的干预教导参与者识别参与者的内部状态并做出适当的反应。为了解决确定的研究目标和收集数据进行分析，学生将使用创建的干预措施，包括基础和更先进的计算课程的各种课程。这些干预措施还将包括在非传统的课堂环境中，如为高中学生提供的在线课程和外联活动。该项目的成果将有助于从理论和实践的角度对体验式教育的基本理解，使计算教育中的各种主题受益，包括通用计算，可访问性，人工智能，机器学习，自治和人机交互。该职业奖由NSF的IUSE：EHR计划支持，该计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This project aims to serve the national interest by understanding how to teach students to create inclusive and unbiased software. The project focuses on the development of empathy-building interventions and the study of their impact on students. It is hypothesized that empathy-creating interventions will advance experiential computing education by increasing student understanding and motivation of computing topics and will result in the development of more equitable and inclusive software. This project will generate knowledge regarding the impact of empathy-creating interventions in software engineering, the most effective methods for creating empathy, and appropriate methodologies for including empathy-creating interventions in experiential computing education. The proposed work will be the first known substantial effort to develop and evaluate empathy-creating interventions in experiential computing education.The specific objectives addressed by the project include: 1) understanding the benefits and impacts of empathy-creating interventions in experiential computing education, 2) recognizing appropriate methodologies to include empathy-creating interventions in experiential computing education, and 3) understand if experiential empathy-creating interventions can help to reduce bias. This work will example the effectiveness of two forms of interventions in building empathy: experience- and expression-based interventions. Experience-based interventions allow the perceiver to encounter a scenario through the target’s perspective using either a hands-on or theoretical activity. Expression-based interventions teach participants to recognize the internal states of the participant and respond appropriately. To address the defined research objectives and collect data for analysis, students will use the created interventions in a diverse range of classes including both foundational and more advanced computing courses. The interventions will also be included in non-traditional classroom environments, such online course offerings and outreach events for high school students. Outcomes for this project will contribute to the foundational understanding of experiential education from a theoretical and practical perspective, benefiting a variety of topics in computing education, including general computing, accessibility, artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomy, and human-computer interaction. This CAREER award is supported by NSF's IUSE:EHR Program which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.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.