Collaborative Research: Using Flow-Based Music Programming to Engage Children in Computer Science

要实现扩大计算机科学(CS)劳动力参与度的目标，将要求儿童有机会及早接触计算机科学。然而，现实情况是，大多数在小学任职人数不足的儿童根本没有机会学习CS。为了弥补这种缺乏机会，这个项目试图创建一个非常吸引人的基于音乐的CS教育计划和课程，M-FLOW，可以很容易地被小学采用。计算机音乐提供了一个极好的机会来扩大CS的参与度，因为音乐与学生的身份本质上是联系在一起的，而且它与计算机有着如此多的结构和历史联系。M-Flow是一个基于Flow的编程平台，面向五年级儿童。在基于流的编程平台中，代码行被图形流程图取代，该流程图使用框和箭头来表示过程和连接。这个项目将探索这样一个猜想，即基于流的编程平台可能非常适合新手程序员快速开发应用程序，以及适合非专业教师在课堂上实现。该项目的成果将包括10个小时的课程，教师专业发展，职业意识视频，以及任何人都可以访问的基于浏览器的编程平台。该项目将聘请一个由教师领导和课程专家组成的团队来共同设计学习模块，采用基于迭代设计的研究来调查该项目如何让代表不足的小学生参与计算和音乐学习。该团队还将开发职业意识视频和视频教程，招募年轻的未被充分代表的专业人士参加西班牙裔专业工程师协会圣地亚哥分会的专题报道。在师生人数较多的情况下，这项计划会研究经修订的流动音乐节目平台如何为学生和教师所认知和使用，以及在哪里需要支架物；流动音乐节目如何影响教师对CS的态度和在课堂上采用CS活动的兴趣；以及流动音乐节目如何影响学生对CS的学习和CS职业的兴趣。数据包括课堂使用情况的视频记录和观察、前后访谈和思考、焦点小组、半结构化访谈、绩效评估、态度调查和点击流数据。这项研究的智力价值在于它探索了基于流的编程方法在吸引年轻的新手学习计算机科学方面的效用。该项目有可能通过其基于网络的分发模式产生更大、更广泛的影响，这将使教师能够容易地采用课程，潜在地吸引数千名年轻学习者参与计算机科学活动。该项目由学生和教师创新技术体验计划(ITEST)资助，该计划支持的项目旨在加深对实践、计划要素、背景和过程的理解，有助于提高学生对科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)以及信息和通信技术(ICT)职业的知识和兴趣。这个项目也是通过CS for All：Research and RPPS计划资助的。这个奖项反映了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。

Achieving the goal of broadening participation in the computer science (CS) workforce will require that children have access to early opportunities to engage with CS. However, the reality is that most underrepresented children in elementary schools do not have access to CS at all. To remediate that lack of access, this project seeks to create a deeply engaging music-based CS education program and curriculum, M-Flow, that can be easily adopted by elementary schools. Computer music provides an excellent opportunity to broaden engagement in CS, as music is intrinsically connected with student identities, and it shares so many structural and historical connections with computing. M-Flow is a flow-based programming platform geared toward children in fifth grade. In flow-based programming platforms, lines of code are replaced by a graphic flowchart that uses boxes and arrows to represent process and connections. This project will explore the conjecture that a flow-based programming platform may be well-suited for novice coders to rapidly develop applications and for non-specialized teachers to implement in classrooms. Outputs of the project will include a 10 hour curriculum, teacher professional development, career awareness videos, and a browser-based programming platform accessible to anyone with internet access.The project will engage a team of teacher-leaders and curriculum experts to co-design learning modules, employing an iterative Design-Based Research to investigate how the program engages underrepresented elementary school learners in computing and music learning. The team will also develop career awareness videos and video tutorials, recruiting young underrepresented professionals to feature from San Diego Chapter of the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers. With a larger population of teachers and students the project will study how the revised flow based music programming platform is perceived and used by students and teachers, and where scaffolds are needed; how flow-based music programming influences teachers' dispositions towards CS and interest in adoption of CS activities in the classrooms; and how flow-based music programming influences students learning of CS and interest in CS careers. Data includes video recordings and observations of classroom use, pre and post interviews and think-alouds, focus groups, semi-structured interviews, performance assessments, attitude surveys, and clickstream data. The intellectual merit of the research lies in its exploration of the utility of a flow-based programming approach for engaging young novice learners with computer science. The project has the potential to make large broader impacts via its web-based distribution model, which would allow teachers to readily adopt the curriculum, potentially engaging thousands of young learners in Computer Science activities. This project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers. This project is also funded through 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.