A Multi-District Collaboration to Develop Justice-Focused Computational Thinking Pathways for Middle School English Language Arts

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。计算思维(CT)和计算机科学(CS)教学通常被视为一项孤立的或课外活动，限制了许多学生的接触。在许多情况下，这些活动侧重于与STEM相关的具体领域，如机器人技术，在这些领域，女孩和有色人种学生的代表性不足，处于边缘地位。因此，以学校为基础的CS课程和课程经常继续边缘化女孩和有色人种学生。将CT/CS教学作为扫盲教学的一部分，提供了一种让历史上代表性不足的学生参与这两门课程的解决方案。该项目的教学材料将被开发，以建立和评价学生的不同文化、文化资源、兴趣和身份。该项目将探讨这一指导对CS中历史上代表性不足的群体(特别是女性和黑人学生)的影响，并增进关于转变CS教育和建立多样化伙伴关系的做法的知识。该项目的长期目标包括创建创新的以司法为重点的课程和相关的教师专业发展(PD)材料，以便将CT/CS纳入中学扫盲教学。这笔赠款的结果将支持STEM和扫盲教育工作者以及课程开发人员重新思考跨学科整合CT/CS的方法。此外，该项目将制定战略，帮助那些感觉与CS联系最少的人，如女孩和有色人种学生，建立CS身份认同。该研究实践伙伴关系(RPP)项目建立了一个网络，其中包括宾夕法尼亚州的四个学区、中学教育工作者、匹兹堡大学教职员工和一个地区教育支持中心(阿勒格尼中级单位)，共同为中学英语语言艺术(ELA)开发以司法为重点的CT/CS课程。该项目的目标包括为中学ELA课程设计和开发以正义为重点的CT/CS课程材料，重点是增加CS中历史上代表性不足的学生，特别是女性和黑人学生的计算认同感、CT/CS知识和数字赋权。此外，课程材料将在部分教室反复修订和测试，通过调查、学习目标评估和STEM职业认同感工具评估学生对材料的反应和对CS的归属感。最后，该项目将努力使未被充分代表的中学生具备在高中计算机科学课程和其他课程中取得成功的知识、技能、身份和能力。在该项目中，伙伴学区都面临着“实践问题”，即确保文化相关的CS教学对学生有意义，并可以嵌入到现有课程中，以确保平等的CS机会。该项目的第一阶段将侧重于伙伴关系建设、知识建设和共同设计初步研究问题。第二阶段将集中于为教师快速共同设计CS/ELA课程材料和PD，在课堂上测试这些材料，并评估学生对这些材料的反应。RPP的外部评估将在第二阶段结束时进行。该项目由全民CS：研究和RPP计划支持。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。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Often computational thinking (CT) and computer science (CS) instruction is approached as an isolated or extracurricular activity, limiting exposure for many students. In many cases, these activities focus on specific STEM-related domains such as robotics, where girls and students of color are underrepresented and marginalized. As a result, school-based CS classes and programs often continue to marginalize girls and students of color. Teaching CT/CS as part of literacy instruction offers one solution to engage historically underrepresented students in both subjects. The project instructional materials will be developed to build on and value students' diverse literacies, cultural resources, interests, and identities. The project will explore the impact of this instruction on historically underrepresented groups in CS (specifically, female and Black students) and advances knowledge on transforming CS education and practices in building diverse partnerships. The project's long-term goal includes creating innovative justice-focused curricula and related teacher professional development (PD) materials for integrating CT/CS into middle school literacy instruction. The outcomes from this grant will support STEM and literacy educators and curriculum developers to rethink methods of integrating CT/CS across disciplines. Additionally, the project will develop strategies to help build CS identities among those who feel least connected to it, such as girls and students of color. This Research to Practice Partnership (RPP) project establishes a network that includes four school districts in Pennsylvania, middle school educators, University of Pittsburgh faculty, and a regional educational support center (Allegheny Intermediate Unit) collaborating to develop a justice-focused CT/CS curriculum for Middle School English Language Arts (ELA). The project goals include the design and development of justice-focused CT/CS curricular materials for middle school ELA classes focused on increasing computational identity, CT/CS knowledge, and digital empowerment among students historically underrepresented in CS, specifically, female and Black students. Additionally, the curricular materials will be iteratively revised and tested in a subset of classrooms, assessing students' responses to the materials and sense of belonging in CS through surveys, assessments of learning goals, and STEM career identity instruments. Finally, the project will strive to equip underrepresented middle school students with the knowledge, skills, identities, and agency to succeed in high school computer science courses and beyond. In this project, the partner school districts all face the "problem of practice" of ensuring culturally relevant CS instruction that is meaningful to students and can be embedded into the existing curriculum to ensure equitable CS access. The first stage of the project will focus on partnership-building, knowledge-building, and co-designing preliminary research questions. The second stage will focus on rapid co-designing CS/ELA curriculum materials and PD for teachers, testing the materials in classrooms, and assessing students' responses to the materials. An external evaluation of the RPP will be conducted at the end of phase 2. This project is supported by the CS for All: Research and RPPs program.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.