Examining the Role of Racial Identity and Personal Experiences in Equity-focused Computer Science Learning

本项目将探讨种族和公平在中学计算机科学（CS）教育中的重要性。尽管CS在生活的各个方面都很重要，但在从小学到工业的管道上，该领域沿着几乎没有种族多样性。在中学一级，即使是对计算机科学非常感兴趣和有信心的学生，在该领域的代表性仍然不足。为了解决这个问题，研究人员创造了文化响应计算方法，以有效地吸引更多的学生在CS。然而，在实施这些方法的进展是有限的有经验的CS教师数量少。本项目旨在支持中学教师发展学科知识和种族平等策略，以教授CS。三个目标中的第一个是发展一套专业学习活动，以不同的方式解决CS学科和种族平等主题。第二个目标是检查每个活动如何让教师学习和谈论CS内容，种族和公平教学法。首席研究员将与城市学区合作，在该地区每月的CS教师会议上提供活动。第三个目标是采访教师，了解他们的种族身份和过去的经验，在CS和教学影响他们参与活动。该项目旨在确定最有效的活动，以了解种族平等和CS主题。这个项目的成果可以支持其他研究人员和教师教育工作者培训更多的教师谁是装备提供公平的CS学习经验，为所有secondarysold.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This project will explore the significance of race and equity in secondary computer science (CS) education. Despite the importance of CS across all aspects of life, there is little racial diversity in the field along the pipeline from elementary school to industry. At the secondary level, even students who are highly interested and confident in CS remain underrepresented in the field. To address this problem, researchers have created culturally responsive computing approaches to effectively engage more students in CS. However, progress in implementing these approaches is limited by the low number of experienced CS teachers. This project aims to support secondary teachers in developing both subject matter knowledge and racial equity strategies for teaching CS.The first of three goals is to develop a set of professional learning activities that vary in the ways they address CS subject matter and racial equity topics. The second goal is to examine how well each activity engages teachers in learning and talking about CS content, race, and equity pedagogy. The principal investigator will collaborate with an urban school district to deliver the activities during the district’s monthly CS teacher meetings. The third goal is to interview teachers to learn how their racial identity and past experiences in CS and in teaching influence their participation in the activities. The project aims to identify the most effective activities for learning about both racial equity and CS subject matter. The outcomes of this project may support other researchers and teacher educators to train more teachers who are equipped to provide equitable CS learning experiences for all secondary students.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.