Collaborative Research: Minoritized Youth Computer Science Learning, Belonging and Career Interest: Coding and Creating with Beats

合作研究：少数青少年计算机科学学习、归属感和职业兴趣：用 Beats 编码和创造

• 批准号: 2344570
• 负责人: David Shepherd
• 金额: $ 50.52万
• 依托单位: Louisiana State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-06-01 至 2025-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2344570&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Minoritized; Youth; Computer

Computer science knowledge and skills are essential in the digital world. Despite progress in the availability of computer science (CS) coursework in secondary school settings, a number of student groups remain substantially underrepresented in computing. This project aims to broaden youth participation in computing by focusing on innovative technology experiences centered around coding-based music. The project will engage Black, Latinx, and female youth during the critical middle school years when many students decide whether future opportunities in CS merit consideration. Through week-long summer programs held on college campuses, the project will develop and study a series of culturally relevant activities where participants learn how to play, manipulate, and create by coding authentic-sounding hip-hop beats using Sonic Pi music software. The project extends prior research into CS learning through coding beats by (1) enhancing the depth of technical analysis, (2) moving students from beat modification to beat creation, and (3) increasing the range of concepts that can naturally be included in a course. This collaborative effort across two universities, a local school district, and a community organization will engage musicians who utilize Sonic Pi in performances and host annual competitions and concerts featuring student work to help broaden youth perspectives of CS and computing-related careers. The project team will also prepare 40 teachers and community instructors to facilitate similar programs in their own settings, ensuring sustainability beyond the duration of the project. This project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers.The project employs design-based implementation research to iteratively refine the instructional approaches across 160 middle school students and two settings to best address the mismatch between CS culture and the culture and learning experiences of students underrepresented in computing. This project will design and investigate a summer program instructional approach that highlights how particular coding technology (e.g., Sonic Pi), scaffolding techniques, and learning activities work to support youth's computer science knowledge, confidence, sense of belonging, and career awareness. The project will build upon previously funded NSF STEM education research (e.g., EarSketch) by grounding in the Use-Modify-Create framework, which articulates a trajectory of youth learning in computing. Mixed methods will inform the research. Qualitative data from observations, focus groups and computational artifacts will explore the promise and effectiveness of the program in promoting expected youth outcomes. Quantitative data (e.g., validated pre- and post-surveys) will identify emergent patterns that will help strengthen the feasibility, sustainability, and social validity of the scaffolded approach. The knowledge and insights gained from this research will provide evidence to support future programs across other regions and develop strong CS learning experiences for students underrepresented in computing.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.

计算机科学知识和技能在数字世界中至关重要。尽管在中学环境中计算机科学（CS）课程的可用性方面取得了进展，但许多学生群体在计算方面仍大大不足。该项目旨在通过关注围绕基于编码的音乐的创新技术体验来扩大青年参与计算。在许多学生决定CS值得考虑的未来机会时，该项目将与黑人，拉丁裔和女性青年参与。通过在大学校园举行的为期一周的夏季课程，该项目将开发和研究一系列与文化相关的活动，参与者通过使用Sonic Pi Music软件来编码真实的嘻哈节拍来学习如何播放，操纵和创建。该项目通过（1）增强技术分析的深度，（2）将学生从Beat修饰转移到Beat Creation，以及（3）增加可以自然包含在课程中的概念范围。在两所大学，当地学区和一个社区组织之间的这项合作努力将吸引那些利用Sonic Pi的音乐家，并举办年度比赛和音乐会，以学生工作为特色，以帮助扩大CS和计算相关职业的青年观点。项目团队还将为40位教师和社区讲师做好准备，以促进自己的环境中的类似计划，从而确保超越项目期限的可持续性。 This project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers.The project employs design-based implementation research to iteratively refine the instructional approaches across 160 middle school students and two settings to best address the CS文化与计算中代表性不足的学生的文化和学习经历之间的不匹配。该项目将设计和调查一种夏季计划的教学方法，该方法强调了特定的编码技术（例如Sonic Pi），脚手架技术和学习活动如何支持青年的计算机科学知识，信心，归属感和职业意识。该项目将建立在先前资助的NSF STEM教育研究（例如Earsketch）的基础上，通过将使用模型创建的框架扎根，该框架阐明了计算中青年学习的轨迹。混合方法将为研究提供信息。来自观察，焦点小组和计算文物的定性数据将探讨该计划在促进预期青年结果方面的希望和有效性。定量数据（例如，经过验证的前后案例）将确定新兴模式，以帮助增强脚手架方法的可行性，可持续性和社会有效性。从这项研究中获得的知识和见解将提供证据，以支持其他地区的未来计划，并为计算中人数不足的学生提供强大的CS学习经验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的评估标准通过评估来支持的。