BPC-DP: A Spatial Approach to Reduce Inequities in Early Access to CS Education

教师们认为，女性和有色人种学生在计算机领域代表性不足的主要原因之一是缺乏对计算机科学的接触。这表明教育工作者观察到所有学生类型的兴趣，扩大接触和接触可能有助于推动更多未被充分代表的人群参与到计算机中来。佐治亚州立大学（Georgia State University）的研究人员通过扩大参与计算示范项目的范围，旨在研究多种因素，如资源分配不公平，这些因素可能导致学校和地区没有平等的机会让学生参与计算。多学科项目团队将开发一种方法，以确定佐治亚州学区中因缺乏计算机科学教育而风险较高的地区。然后，政府实体、非营利组织和行业可以利用这个平台，将有限的资源放在最需要的地方，并产生最大的影响。该项目开发了1)Co-SEA（计算机科学教育获取）风险指数，以量化接受计算机教育的需求；2)一种新的方法来识别空间区域，称为RICS（种族不平等计算机科学）沙漠，这些区域因缺乏获得计算机科学教育的机会而面临风险；3)一个可定制的计算框架，供决策者在给定的约束条件下确定资源和干预措施的位置。这种新颖的跨学科方法通过整合感兴趣地区的多源数据，考虑了限制CS教育的结构性因素。佐治亚州立大学的项目团队综合考虑了人口、社会经济、公民权利、交通和学校入学数据，提出了RICS沙漠的概念，并为规划者提供了一种确定干预措施的方法。该方法将结合敏感性分析来评估空间不确定性带来的潜在偏差。开发的计算框架将可扩展应用于任何感兴趣的领域，无论是在社区、县、州、地区还是国家层面。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。

Lack of exposure to computer science is one of the major reasons cited by teachers behind the underrepresentation of women and students of color in computing fields. This suggests that educators observe interest among all student types and that broadening exposure and access might help drive greater involvement in computing from underrepresented populations. Through this broadening participation in computing demonstration project, researchers at Georgia State University aim to examine a multitude of factors, such as inequitable allocation of resources, that can lead to schools and districts with unequal opportunities to engage students in computing. The multidisciplinary project team will develop a method to identify areas in Georgia school districts that are at a higher risk for lack of exposure to CS education. Government entities, non-profits, and industry can then leverage this platform to place limited resources where they are most needed and can have the greatest impact. This project develops 1) a Co-SEA (Computer Science Education Access) Risk Index to quantify the need for exposure to computing education; 2) a new methodology to identify spatial regions, called RICS (Racially Inequitable Computer Science) Deserts, that are at risk for lack of access to CS education; and 3) a customizable computational framework for decision-makers to determine placement of resources and interventions within given constraints. This novel interdisciplinary approach considers structural factors that collectively limit access to CS education by integrating multi-source data for the region of interest. The project team at Georgia State University take a holistic approach by considering demographic, socio-economic, civil rights, transportation, and school enrollment data to develop the concept of RICS Deserts and provide a means for planners to determine where to place their interventions. The methodology will incorporate sensitivity analysis to evaluate potential biases introduced by spatial uncertainty. The computational framework developed will be scalable for application to any area of interest, whether that be at the community, county, state, regional or national level.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.