NSF Org:	CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems
Recipient:	UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
Initial Amendment Date:	September 5, 2014
Latest Amendment Date:	September 5, 2014
Award Number:	1441069
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Janice Cuny CNS  Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE  Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Start Date:	January 1, 2015
End Date:	December 31, 2018 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$587,947.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$587,947.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2014 = $587,947.00
History of Investigator:	Lynne Ipina (Principal Investigator) ipina@uwyo.edu Ruben Gamboa (Co-Principal Investigator) Dan Stanescu (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	University of Wyoming 1000 E UNIVERSITY AVE LARAMIE WY  US  82071-2000 (307)766-5320
Sponsor Congressional District:	00
Primary Place of Performance:	University of Wyoming WY  US  82071-2000
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	00
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	FDR5YF2K32X5
Parent UEI:	FDR5YF2K32X5
NSF Program(s):	Computing Ed for 21st Century
Primary Program Source:	01001415DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	7578, 9150
Program Element Code(s):	738200
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.070

ABSTRACT

The University of Wyoming, partnering with the Wyoming Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and districts and high schools throughout the state, proposes a project to bring AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) to students across Wyoming. The project will adapt and adopt the Beauty and Joy of Computing (BJC) - an AP CSP course developed at UC Berkeley - to prepare students for the new AP CSP exam. The PIs have significant experience working with middle and high school teachers throughout Wyoming, especially with mathematics teachers, who are the main providers of high school computing education in the state. The project leverages this experience by offering significant professional development (PD) during a summer session and school year follow-up. Over the summer, teachers will be introduced to the Snap! programming language and its development environment, and the details of preparing students for the AP CSP examination. Further PD opportunities will take place throughout the school year in the form of one-on-one peer mentoring and online teacher circles, which will be particularly useful in the sparsely populated state of Wyoming. The project will work closely with high school teachers to teach the course as a pilot at high schools in Albany County and Laramie County. After the pilot, it will extend the collaboration to other school districts in Wyoming, ultimately reaching the entire state.

The Beauty and Joy, Adapted and Adopted project will modify the existing BJC curriculum to include alternative units on topics of particular interest in Wyoming such as simulation of global climate models. The project staff will conduct professional development for in-service teachers to improve high school computer science instruction in Wyoming. The external evaluation will examine the implementation of rigorous courses in computer science in high schools throughout the state of Wyoming through the adoption of AP CSP classes, and the extent to which broadening participation in computer science is advanced using AP CSP as a vehicle. The key question addressed by the external evaluation is the following: "To what extent was the project implemented as designed and did it achieve its stated goals and objectives?"

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

For the duration of this project, the PIs -- Ipina, Gamboa, and Stanescu -- fostered computer science education in Wyoming schools in general, and the adoption of the Advanced Placement course Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) in particular. They did this by creating professional development (PD) materials for high school teachers and delivering summer PD workshops to Wyoming teachers. The materials that were developed were designed to supplement existing PD materials created by the Beauty and Joy of Computing group, also funded in part by the NSF. The materials will remain available to teachers via the distance learning and outreach platform of the University of Wyoming.

The PIs also collaborated directly with Wyoming high schools to teach the AP CSP course to their students, both in person and remotely using distance learning. When the project started, only three students participated in any AP Computer Science exam, but in the past year, 38 students took AP Computer Science, and 27 of them specifically took the AP CSP exam.

In addition, the PIs collaborated with others at the University of Wyoming College of Education, the Wyoming Department of Education, and the the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board to create rigorous standards for Wyoming K-12 teachers to add a computer science endorsement to their teaching certificates. K-12 teachers can use the PD workshops and the PD materials created by the PIs to satisfy in part the requirements for a computing endorsement.

Finally, the state of Wyoming recently passed a law mandating that every school in the state offer computer science courses. The PIs were part of a working group created by the Wyoming Department of Education to draft grade-appropriate standards for computing in support of the new mandate. These draft is currently under consideration for adoption by the Wyoming State Board of Education. The AP CSP course that the PIs have fostered satisfies most of the proposed standards at the secondary level.

 

Last Modified: 04/04/2019
Modified by: Ruben A Gamboa

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