| NSF Org: |
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 5, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 5, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1433592 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
David Haury
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2014 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,198,639.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,198,639.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
220 PAWTUCKET ST STE 400 LOWELL MA US 01854-3573 (978)934-4170 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
One University Avenue Lowell MA US 01854-2827 |
| 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): | ITEST-Inov Tech Exp Stu & Teac |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| 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): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
There is a growing recognition of the need to engage youth in meaningful experiences with computing. This ITEST Strategies project will create a partnership of the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), the Tri-City Technology Education Collaborative Inc. (TRITEC), and the urban school districts of Medford and Everett, MA to bring project-based, socially-relevant computing experiences to district middle school students. The project will have immediate impact on the Medford and Everett districts' students and teachers. The project will result in a sustainable program with ongoing benefits for the districts. The project will contribute to the growing literature on computational thinking and appropriate ways to assess that learning in middle school students.
The project will result in a 15- to 20-hour computing curriculum that is integrated with existing district technology and engineering courses. By the second project year, the curriculum will be in all seven district middle schools, and will be delivered to 450 students per year. In addition, the team will conduct intensive 30-hour summer camps attended by 140 students per project year. Over the project's 3-year period, 1,100 students will participate during the school day, with 360 students also receiving a summer-intensive experience. Project curriculum will include creative project work and career awareness activities. Using MIT App Inventor, a blocks-based design environment for building mobile apps, students will develop their own apps that support socially relevant activities in their communities. University computer science students and industry professionals will visit project classrooms and work with middle school students. The team will investigate (1) student learning outcomes: how the project's school-day and summer-intensive project work and career awareness activities influence students' attitudes toward computing and ability to engage in computing practices; (2) teacher outcomes: how the project's collaborative professional development model leads to teacher content learning and curricular adoptions; and (3) broadening participation outcomes: how the school-day intervention leads to students' choice of continued involvement in computing, including the summer camps and future opportunities beyond middle school.
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.
Middle School Pathways in Computer Science ("CS Pathways") was an NSF-supported ITEST Strategies project that created a middle school computer science curriculum focused on students making mobile apps for social good.
The project was based on a partnership among the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the Tri-City Technology Education Collaborative Inc., and the urban school districts of Medford and Everett, MA.
During the 2014-2018 award period, the project worked with 12 teachers across the two school districts. The teachers developed and implemented a 20-hour, project-based computer science curriculum that reached an estimated 2,520 middle school students over the grant lifetime. The teachers also led a series of 30-hour, week-long intensive summer camps that reached more than 200 students over the project's four years.
Intellectual Merit. The CS Pathways curriculum was designed to broaden participation in computing: to make it accessible and meaningful to a wide range of students (not only those historically drawn to computer science). In the project design, all students in the two districts received the teacher-developed computer science curriculum during at least once during their middle school years.
This project contributed to the growing literature on approaches to computer science which broaden participation in computing. Based on the use of MIT App Inventor, a software system for making apps for mobile devices, students were engaged in making apps for social good. Teachers and students interpreted this charge in ways that were local and close to home. Students made apps that shared their interests with each other, including their diverse cultural heritages and typical American hobbies (like fashion preferences and musical affinities). They also made apps relevant to their school communities, and addressed societal needs of their own urban areas.
Research revealed that students participating in the academic year curriculum reported increased confidence creating apps and creating apps to solve a community problem. An analysis of the student outcomes data indicated that the intervention appears to have a similar influence on all students, thereby meeting the project's aim of providing equitable opportunities to all and engaging those traditionally not engaged in computer science.
Broader Impacts. In addition to the students directly reached by the project's activities, the project has resulted in a new computer science curriculum which has become institutionalized at the two participating school districts. This will result in ongoing benefits to the students of these two districts.
Beyond the immediate impacts to the partner districts, the project has shared its 20-hour middle school computer science curriculum with the computer science education community. The curriculum has served as a model for other similar initiatives. The project's research findings and other work products have been shared in publications and presentations at national and regional meetings, including those aimed at researchers and teachers.
Last Modified: 05/23/2019
Modified by: Fred G Martin
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