EAGER: An Accessible Coding Curriculum for Engaging Underserved Students with Special Needs in Afterschool Programs

许多学校都在试图弄清楚如何遵守新的计算指令，特别是考虑到受过培训的教师数量有限，他们对这一新的学科领域感到满意。另一方面，州和联邦的规定也要求支持有特殊需要的学生的学习要求。学习计算的无障碍界面的缺乏可能会导致残疾学生在这些新倡议中没有平等的机会。此外，低社会经济社区的大多数学校往往资源不足，在将计算机科学培训直接带入课堂环境方面造成了进一步的鸿沟和挑战。这项工作将调查通过确保平等地获得计算机科学课程来积极影响未得到充分服务的有特殊需要的学生的方法，重点在于1)设计可访问的编码课程，以使未得到充分服务的有特殊需要的学生参与课外空间的动手计算机教育，以及2)通过试点研究评估两个不同种族的有特殊需要的中学生的学习结果。该奖项反映了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。

Many schools are trying to figure out how to comply with new computing directives, especially given there are a limited number of trained teachers that are comfortable with this new subject area. State and federal mandates, on the other hand, also require supporting the learning requirements of students with special needs. The scarcity of accessible interfaces for learning computing can lead to students with disabilities not having equal access in these new initiatives. In addition, most schools in low socioeconomic communities are often under-resourced, creating a further divide and challenge in bringing computer science training directly into the classroom environment. This work will investigate methods to positively impact underserved students with special needs by ensuring equal access to computer science curriculum, with a focus on 1) designing an accessible coding curriculum to engage underserved students with special needs in hands-on computing education in the afterschool space and 2) through pilot studies evaluate the learning outcomes for two ethnically diverse populations of middle school students with special needs.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.