GDSE/RES: Realtime, Applied Programming for Underrepresented Students' Early Literacy

纽约大学和俄勒冈大学尤金分校提出了一项为期三年的研究项目，旨在为未被充分代表的学生的早期读写能力（RAPUNSEL）建立一个成功的实时应用编程软件环境，以解决计算机科学（CS）职业和学位课程中女性严重短缺的问题。其目标是开发一种吸引人的系统，用于向中学女生教授计算机编程。该系统旨在成为一个可扩展的，平易近人的模拟游戏，吸引女孩的沟通意识，好奇心和游戏，同时增强信心和发展编程专业知识。具体而言，该项目旨在研究与性别和CS相关的三个领域。首先，编程软件环境的设计和同龄人群体在这种环境中的作用如何影响女孩学习编程的动机和参与？第二，中学女生学习程序思维等编程概念的深度是多少？第三，我们能否在软件环境中提高女孩的整体自信和自我效能水平？RAPUNSEL通过设计一个基于java的网络游戏环境来解决这些问题，在这个环境中，女孩们可以改变和创造原创的角色、场景和脚本，以建立在线的协作叙事。使用4个基于网络的模块，女孩将通过操纵模块中的对象并获得即时反馈来逐步学习编程。RAPUNSEL允许女孩们分享她们的创作，并通过角色代理形式的引导提示系统逐渐获得编程的权限。以前没有一个项目专门关注中学女生在在线软件环境中分层使用常用的编程语言，也没有其他项目授权女孩创建自己的编程对象供他人使用。该团队将构建原型，以适应他们所谓的“不可折叠环境”的更大框架，激励女孩们打开呈现给她们的角色和世界，操纵它们，并创造新的对象和环境。她们将与俄勒冈州和纽约的小群女孩一起工作，作为用户、测试者、线人和设计伙伴。大规模评估将在俄勒冈州尤金4J学区进行。研究团队包括经验丰富、屡获殊荣的科学家、艺术家、设计师和教育工作者，他们拥有独特的学术和行业经验。该项目的行业相关顾问包括Maxis Entertainment的创始人、《模拟人生》的创造者Will Wright，以及Know Wonder的执行工作室总监Lindsay Gupton（《哈利波特》、《美国女孩》和《魔法校车》的创造者）。担任顾问的教育工作者是俄勒冈州尤金的中学教师以及尤金的4J学区。完成后，RAPUNSEL将作为一个用户友好的环境在网上发布，也将作为开源供其他研究人员使用。它有可能影响中学一级的技术教育，解决全国邀请更多女学生发展技术和设计技能的需要。

New York University and University of Oregon Eugene propose a three-year research project to build a successful software environment for realtime, applied programming for underrepresented students' early literacy (RAPUNSEL) in order to address the critical shortage of women in Computer Science (CS) careers and degree programs. The goal is to develop an engaging system with which to teach computer programming to middle school girls. The system is designed to become a scalable, approachable simulation game that appeals to girls' sense of communication, curiosity, and play while boosting confidence and developing programming expertise. Specifically, the project aims to study three areas related to gender and CS. First, how do the design of the programming software environment and the role of the peer group within such an environment affects girls' motivation and engagement to learn programming? Second, what is the depth to which middle school girls are able to learn programming concepts such as procedural thinking? Third, can we increase girls' overall confidence and self-efficacy levels in a software environment?RAPUNSEL addresses these issues through the design of a JAVA-based networked play environment in which girls can alter and create original characters, scenes, and scripts to build collaborative narratives online. Using 4 web-based modules, girls will learn programming progressively through manipulating the objects in the modules and receiving immediate feedback. RAPUNSEL allows girls to share their creations and gradually gain access to programming through guided hint systems in the form of character agents. No previous initiatives have focused specifically on the tiered use of a commonly used programming languages for middle school girls within an online software environment, and no other project has empowered girls to create their own programmatic objects for others to use.The team will build prototypes to fit into a larger framework for what they call "unfoldable environments" which motivate girls to unwrap the characters and worlds presented to them, manipulate them, and create new objects and environments. They will work with small groups of Oregon and New York girls as users, testers, informants, and design partners. Large-scale assessment will occur in the Eugene Oregon 4J school district.The research team includes experienced, award-winning scientists, artists, designers, and educators with a unique blend of academic and industry experience. Industry-related consultants on the project include Will Wright, the founder of Maxis Entertainment and creator of The Sims games, and Lindsay Gupton, Executive Studio Director of Know Wonder, maker of the Harry Potter, American Girl, and Magic Schoolbus games. Educators serving as consultants are middle school teachers in Eugene, Oregon as well as the 4J school district in Eugene.When completed, RAPUNSEL will be distributed online as a user-friendly environment and will also be available as open source for other researchers to use. It has potential to influence technology education at the middle school level, addressing the national need to invite more female students to develop technical and design skills.