
NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | September 14, 2015 |
Latest Amendment Date: | September 7, 2016 |
Award Number: | 1543014 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Allyson Kennedy
aykenned@nsf.gov (703)292-8905 CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
Start Date: | October 1, 2015 |
End Date: | September 30, 2019 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $999,885.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $2,579,724.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2016 = $1,579,839.00 |
History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
110 INNER CAMPUS DR AUSTIN TX US 78712-1139 (512)471-6424 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
TX US 78712-1532 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): |
STEM + Computing (STEM+C) Part, Special Projects - CNS |
Primary Program Source: |
01001617DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001617RB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) proposes a project to strengthen and expand access to computer science (CS) education in U.S. high schools. The project will leverage the Thriving in Our Digital World curriculum, the successful UTeach model for STEM teacher preparation, the unique expertise of the UTeach Institute (the organization charged with ensuring the fidelity of national UTeach implementation and the expansion and the sustainability of related STEM education innovations), and a national network, facilitated by the UTeach Institute, of 44 UTeach partner programs at universities across 21 states and the District of Columbia. The project will develop and scale professional development (PD) that prepares teachers for the new AP® CS Principles course as it becomes officially available in the fall of 2016.
The project has four major goals: (1) to develop and integrate CS content and activities into the national UTeach curriculum for pre-service STEM teachers; (2) to facilitate a collaborative dialogue to support the development and strengthening of pathways for CS teacher licensure and secondary instruction in the 21 states and District of Columbia that partner with the UTeach Institute; (3) to develop and pilot in-person and online PD programs to scale high quality training to a diverse corps of teachers preparing to offer the Thriving in Our Digital World curriculum based on the AP CS Principles framework; and (4) to recruit and support 300 teachers. The three-year phased project timeline aligns with the rollout of the new AP CS Principles exam, and it will prepare roughly 6,000 students in Grades 10 through 12 to take the exam. In addition, by leveraging the expertise of the UTeach Institute to scale and sustain STEM teacher preparation and PD initiatives, all project components will be fully institutionalized and sustained through a fee structure by the end of the grant period.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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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.
Between 2015 and 2018, The University of Texas at Austin UTeach Institute and Computer Science Department collaborated to strengthen and expand computer science education through 1) development and implementation of a research-based AP Computer Science Principles high school course curriculum and teacher professional development, 2) development and integration of computer science content and activities into the national UTeach STEM pre-service curriculum in use at 45 universities, and 3) supporting development and strengthening pathways for CS teacher licensure across the national network of UTeach programs.
Project Outcomes
A project-based, College Board endorsed, high school AP CS Principles curriculum, UTeach CS Principles, is developed and available to schools and districts nationwide. A total of 1,025 teachers, 40% of whom had no CS background, have been trained to offer the course.
Three years of AP CS exam results, provided by The College Board, show that students in UTeach CS Principlescourses include more females and other underrepresented students and these students performed slightly better than national averages. In total, 75% of UTeach students passed the exam compared with 72% nationally and female students passed at a rate of 75% compared with 69%. Pass rates for African American and Hispanic students in UTeach were 43% and 57%, compared with national pass rates of 41% and 55%. Finally, 62% of underrepresented students overall in UTeach courses passed compared with 55% nationally.
Both females, and underrepresented students as whole, represented a higher proportion of the total number of exam takers in the UTeach CSP group compared with national participation rates. Between 2017 – 2019, 41% of UTeach CSP exam takers were female, compared with 32% nationally and 37% of UTeach CSP exam takers were underrepresented, compared with 32% nationally.
This project leveraged UTeach Institute support for the national network of 45 university-based UTeach secondary STEM teacher preparation programs across the country. As the hub to this network, the UTeach Institute provides a central repository of UTeach program operational and instructional resources, including complete curriculum for nine UTeach courses. More than 700 faculty have access to this content. As part of this project, computer science lessons were developed and integrated into UTeach course materials available on the UTeach Members Website.
This project further catalyzed the national network of UTeach programs to begin exploring a variety of innovative ways to strengthen the preparation of CS teachers and to integrate computational thinking and CS content across the UTeach secondary STEM teacher preparation curriculum. A working group of approximately 20 UTeach programs convened multiple times to share best practices and tackle shared challenges related to strengthening the preparation of CS teachers. As a result of this collaborative work, a U.S. Department of Education SEED grant currently funds four UTeach programs to formally design, implement, and test various approaches and pathways to CS certification based on the UTeach program model. We anticipate this work will lead to the adoption of best practices across the UTeach network.
Last Modified: 01/31/2020
Modified by: Calvin Lin
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