Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Computer Science Education Outreach from Georgia Tech

ICE is the Institute for Computing Education. ICE is a partnership between the Georgia Department of Education and the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. 
Barbara Ericson is developing student and teacher ebooks at Georgia Tech.  These ebooks use a worked example plus low cognitive load practice approach that should result in more efficient and effective learning than the traditional approach of requiring learners to mostly learn by writing code.


Exploring Computer Science Curriculum

Exploring Computer Science  is an NSF grant project funded for Los Angeles Unified School District and also used as a national model.


http://www.exploringcs.org

the CS v6 curriculum is available for downloadhttp://www.exploringcs.org/curriculum

•Also on the above link is a description of the scope and sequence of ECS as well as supplemental materials.

Videos of curriculum and PD, K-12 university partnership, Margolis/Goode keynote 2009, Richard Tapia story (Math PhD UCLA, faculty now Rice U.), Coder Girl, STEM ECS Promo video, and Black Girls Code, teaching a new generation of innovators.  http://www.exploringcs.org/resources/videos

papers
published articles 2003-2014   http://www.exploringcs.org/research/research-publications                                                                            
research findings
research question “What does exploring computer science teaching look like in the classroom?” 
key findings to questions available on last link when you click on the question:
What computer science content is being taught in ECS classrooms? 
What does inquiry based teaching look like in ECS classrooms?
What does equity based teaching look like in ECS classrooms?
What were the most common teacher practices observed in ECS classrooms?
What were the least common teacher practices observed in ECS classrooms?
In what crucial ways did teachers practices vary across classrooms?
What did ECS teachers report to be supportive of their inquiry and equity based teaching practice?
Discussion points and implications            

Summary of student learning indicators for ECS LAUSD (broadening participation in CS, building CS access, student reported increase in CS skills, self-reported gender gap narrowing, increased persistence in ?C?S problem solving, and two attitude indicators including growth in SC engagement and ECS challenging exclusionary stereotypes in CS.        http://www.exploringcs.org/about/results

The site says that the research behind the ECS development is Jane’s book, Stuck in the Shallow End:
Margolis, J., Estrella, R., Goode, J., Jellison-Holme, J., & Nao, K. (2008). Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race, & Computing. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.
book cover picturehttp://www.exploringcs.org/about/the-research-behind-ecs  (and about the book)

CS Education Statistics  http://www.exploringcs.org/resources/cs-statistics  (charts, graphs, information)
Photos (kids, teachers, computers, trips to UCLA)    http://www.exploringcs.org/about/photos

Photos and bios of ECS Team (including Jane and Joanna Goode)  http://www.exploringcs.org/about/team

The suggested citation for this study is:  
Ryoo, J.J., Margolis, J., Goode, J., Lee, C., Moreno Sandoval, C.D. (2014). ECS Teacher Practices Research Findings—In Brief. Los Angeles, CA: Exploring Computer Science Project, University of California, Los Angeles Center X with University of Oregon, Eugene. Retrieved September 245, 2015, from http://www.exploringcs.org/ecs-teacher-practices-research.

Mobilize Grant 2010-2015

Yasmin Kafai also has a new NSF grant with Jane Margolis designing an e-textile unit for ECS.  They just started last month but will be in LAUSD classrooms next year.

Other


NSF Program Solicitation  STEM + C    April 14, 2015   http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15537/nsf15537.htm
Mark Guzdial’s post about it:  https://computinged.wordpress.com/tag/nsf/

NSA funding Cybersecurity HS camp at Berkeley, summer 2015  CY-BEAR (NSA & NSF)   http://www.dailycal.org/2015/07/08/national-security-agency-funds-uc-berkeley-cybersecurity-summer-camp-for-high-school-students/

NSF 2009 BCP (Broadening Participation in Computing)   http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=116059
"The BPC funded research by Jane Margolis, a UCLA researcher working in the Los Angeles Unified School District, seeks to implement a comprehensive computer science education at the K-12 level. The BPC also funded Ursula Wolz, a researcher from the College of New Jersey. Wolz and her team created a summer institute and an afterschool program that teaches students computer science through the development of an online magazine. “

News about ECS
video highlighting Jane’s work by NSF  (September 2014)
"Today, more than 2,000 students in the Los Angeles United School District (LAUSD) are learning computer science through ECS each year. Most of the students are African American and Latino. ECS is also increasing the percentage of female students taking computer science courses. At a time when the national average of female students who are participating in Advanced Placement computer science is about 19 percent, the LAUSD ECS enrollment is 40 percent female – twice the national average!