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

缺乏对计算机科学的接触是教师列举的计算机领域女性和有色人种学生代表性不足的主要原因之一。这表明，教育工作者注意到所有类型的学生都有兴趣，扩大接触和接触可能有助于推动未被充分代表的人群更多地参与计算。佐治亚州立大学的研究人员通过这个扩大参与计算的示范项目，旨在研究多种因素，例如资源分配不公平，这些因素可能导致学校和学区有不平等的机会让学生参与计算。多学科项目小组将开发一种方法，以确定佐治亚州学区中因缺乏接触CS教育而处于较高风险的地区。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)计算机科学教育获取(Co-SEA)风险指数，以量化对计算机教育的需求；2)一种新的方法，用于确定因缺乏计算机科学教育机会而面临风险的空间区域，称为RICS(种族不公平的计算机科学)沙漠；以及3)一个可定制的计算框架，供决策者在给定的限制范围内确定资源和干预措施的位置。这种新的跨学科方法通过整合感兴趣地区的多源数据，考虑了共同限制获得计算机科学教育的结构性因素。佐治亚州立大学的项目团队通过考虑人口、社会经济、民权、交通和学校入学数据，采取全面的方法来开发RICS沙漠的概念，并为规划者提供一种方法来确定在哪里放置干预措施。该方法将纳入敏感性分析，以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到任何感兴趣的领域，无论是在社区、县、州、地区或国家层面。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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。

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.