Mentorship and Project-Based Learning to Support Computational Thinking and Computer Science Education Pathways for Underrepresented Students in Los Angeles

教育黑人和拉丁裔初中和高中学生在计算机科学领域的专业技能是高度的社会和经济利益，以美国。计算思维技能，如坚持解决难题，与他人合作以实现共同目标，是学生为计算机和技术职业做好准备的基础。加州大学洛杉矶分校和邻近的南洛杉矶的一所初中和高中之间的这种合作关系将探索如何发展计算思维技能也可以提高学生对数学概念的理解。为了实现这一目标，该团队将专注于通过计算机科学教育途径的两个关键方面来支持有色人种学生：由教师提供知识和社会影响力近同行导师。该项目建立在南洛杉矶的关键设计和游戏学校（C：\DAGS）与加州大学洛杉矶分校学校转型中心（CTS）之间的现有合作关系基础上，该合作中心致力于对9年级代表性不足的学生进行有效干预，并将工作扩展到6 - 12年级的300名学生。该项目旨在促进对主要服务于低收入有色人种学生的学校中CT学生发展的有效模式的理解，以及可以消除学习障碍的教育途径和伙伴关系的类型，以及CT发展如何被用作促进学生数学学习的手段。该提案调查了CS准备途径中的两个关键因素：教师提供的知识和社会影响力。该模型将强调共同的教学策略，以促进CT的发展和指导，从加州大学洛杉矶分校的卓越中心工程和多样性（CEED）该组织将提供一个本科生导师的管道，与两所学校的教师和学生指导者一起工作。该奖项反映了NSF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进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

Educating Black and Latinx middle and high school students in the field of computer science with specialized skills is of high social and economic interest to the United States. Computational thinking skills, such as persistence in working with difficult problems and collaborating with others to achieve a common goal, are foundational in preparing students for careers in computing and technology. This partnership between UCLA and a neighboring middle and high school in South Los Angeles will explore how developing computational thinking skills may also enhance students’ understanding of math concepts. To do this, the team will focus on supporting students of color through two critical aspects of education pathways through computer science: the delivery of knowledge by teachers and social influence near-peer mentors.This project builds upon a current partnership between the Critical Design and Gaming Schools (C:\DAGS) in South Los Angeles and the Center for the Transformation of Schools (CTS) at UCLA that centers on effective interventions for 9th grade underrepresented students and expands the work to 300 students in 6th-12th grade. The project seeks to advance understanding of effective models for CT student development in schools that serve predominantly low-income students of color, as well as the types of educational pathways and partnerships that can remove barriers to learning and how CT development can be used as a means for promoting student learning in mathematics. The proposal investigates two critical factors in the CS preparation pathway: the delivery of knowledge by teachers and social influence near-peer mentors. The model will emphasize common instructional strategies to promote CT development and mentorship from UCLA’s Center for Excellence in Engineering and Diversity (CEED) an organization that will provide a pipeline of undergraduate mentors to work with teachers and student mentees at both schools.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.