Collaborative Research Broadening Participation of Latinx Students in Computer Science by Integrating Culturally Relevant Computational Music Practices

计算和计算思维是现代科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）实践中不可或缺的一部分；因此，计算技能对于学生准备参与计算密集型STEM领域和新兴劳动力至关重要。在美国，讲拉丁语和西班牙语的学生在计算机和STEM领域的代表性不足，因此，迫切需要扩大学生学习计算机的机会。佐治亚理工学院和波多黎各大学将在研究和开发方面进行合作，为美国大陆和波多黎各的拉丁裔和西班牙语学生提供学习计算机科学及其在解决STEM领域问题中的应用的机会。该项目将采用一种创造性的方法来教授计算机科学，让讲拉丁语和西班牙语的学生学习如何在一个名为EarSketch的音乐平台上编码和重新编程。课程中与文化相关的教育实践，作为非正式STEM学习的典范，将使学生能够对音乐进行编码和重新编程，包括与他们自己的文化、社区叙事和文化故事相关的声音。研究结果将为教育项目提供信息，旨在为不同人群设计文化上真实的活动，作为扩大STEM和计算机综合参与的一种手段。该广泛实施项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解，包括扩大STEM学习机会和参与的多种途径，推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及发展参与者对深度学习的理解。作为该项目的技术创新的一部分，EarSketch平台将重新设计文化和语言真实性，包括将传统和当代拉丁节拍和音乐样本纳入软件中，以便学生可以重新混合音乐并使用与他们文化相关的声音学习编码；并开发了西班牙语版本的平台，可以在英语和西班牙语之间轻松切换。研究人员还将利用文化相关教育和文化可持续教育学的最佳实践开发一门非正式的STEM课程，通过与学生的文化、社区和生活经验建立直接和持续的联系，为学生提供真实的、文化和语言丰富的机会。课程设计和实施团队将与拉丁不同文化群体的成员合作，以确保不同学生和网站的语义和内容等同。验证跨学生和场地的干预是该项目的目标之一。非正式学习的示范课程将在亚特兰大和波多黎各每年的六所学校中作为一个学期的课外项目实施，并在夏季进行两次为期一周的夏令营。课程材料将广泛分发，并将向非正式学习人员提供培训，作为该项目的一部分。该研究将探索音乐和计算参与的差异；EarSketch的音乐和计算方面之间的互连；以及该项目在多大程度上促进了亚特兰大文化和语言上不同的拉丁裔学生群体之间的文化交流，以及波多黎各文化和语言上更相同的拉丁裔学生之间的文化交流。调查人员将使用混合方法设计从调查、访谈、焦点小组和学生创建的计算/音乐人工制品中收集数据。该研究将采用多个案例研究方法来分析和比较波多黎各和亚特兰大项目关键组成部分的实施情况，并探讨这两个地区学生音乐和计算思维实践的差异。研究结果将决定课程对计算机科学技能和相关计算实践的影响；并有助于理解文化参与对教育成果的作用，如归属感、持久性、计算思维、编程内容知识和计算机科学身份。研究结果将为教育项目提供信息，为不同人口的拉丁裔青年设计具有文化真实性和吸引力的项目。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。

Computing and computational thinking are integral to the practice of modern science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM); therefore, computational skills are essential for students’ preparation to participate in computationally intensive STEM fields and the emerging workforce. In the U.S., Latinx and Spanish speaking students are underrepresented in computing and STEM fields, therefore, expanding opportunities for students to learn computing is an urgent need. The Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Puerto Rico will collaborate on research and development that will provide Latinx and Spanish speaking students in the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico, opportunities to learn computer science and its application in solving problems in STEM fields. The project will use a creative approach to teaching computer science by engaging Latinx and Spanish speaking students in learning how to code and reprogram in a music platform, EarSketch. The culturally relevant educational practices of the curriculum, as a model for informal STEM learning, will enable students to code and reprogram music, including sounds relevant to their own cultures, community narratives, and cultural storytelling. Research results will inform education programs seeking to design culturally authentic activities for diverse populations as a means to broaden participation in integrated STEM and Computing. This Broad Implementation project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments, including multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants.As part of the technical innovation of the project, the EarSketch platform will be redesigned for cultural and linguistic authenticity that will include incorporating traditional and contemporary Latin sound beats and musical samples into the software so that students can remix music and learn coding using sounds relevant to their cultures; and developing a Spanish version of the platform, with a toggle to easily switch between English and Spanish. Investigators will also develop an informal STEM curriculum using best practices from Culturally Relevant Education and Cultural Sustaining Pedagogy that provides authentic, culturally and linguistically rich opportunities for student engagement by establishing direct and constant connections to their cultures, communities and lived experiences. The curriculum design and implementation team will work collaboratively with members of Latinx diverse cultural groups to ensure semantic and content equivalency across diverse students and sites. Validating the intervention across students and sites is one of the goals of the project. The model curriculum for informal learning will be implemented as a semester long afterschool program in six schools per year in Atlanta and Puerto Rico, and as a one-week summer camp twice in the summer. The curricular materials will be broadly disseminated, and training will be provided to informal learning practitioners as part of the project. The research will explore differences in musical and computational engagement; the interconnection between music and the computational aspects of EarSketch; and the degree to which the program promotes cultural engagement among culturally and linguistically heterogenous groups of Latinx students in Atlanta, and more culturally and linguistically homogenous Latinx students in Puerto Rico. Investigators will use a mixed method design to collect data from surveys, interviews, focus groups, and computational/musical artifacts created by students. The study will employ multiple case study methodology to analyze and compare the implementation of the critical components of the program in Puerto Rico and Atlanta, and to explore differences in students’ musical and computational thinking practices in the two regions. Results from the research will determine the impact of the curriculum on computer science skills and associated computational practices; and contribute to the understanding of the role of cultural engagement on educational outcomes such as sense of belonging, persistence, computational thinking, programming content knowledge and computer science identity. Results will inform education programs designing culturally authentic and engaging programming for diverse populations of Latinx youths.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.