| NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 19, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 19, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1836990 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Allyson Kennedy
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2018 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2023 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $168,822.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $168,822.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1501 STATE ST MARSHALL MN US 56258-3306 (507)537-6193 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
MN US 56258-1598 |
| 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: |
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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): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
This project studies the implementation and outcomes of Concurrent Enrollment (CE) programs as a vehicle for broadening participation in high school to college pathways in Computer Science (CS). The Mobile Computer Science Principles (Mobile CSP) project at the College of St. Scholastica, an established curriculum endorsed by the College Board for its alignment with the Advanced Placement (AP) CSP framework, has formed a Research-Practitioner Partnership (RPP) with CE programs at Capital Community College in Hartford, Connecticut and Southwest Minnesota State University in Minnesota and with partner school districts in each state. The RPP project explores whether CS through CE can broaden the high school to college pathway in computing disciplines for those traditionally underrepresented in these fields: female, underrepresented minority, and low-SES students. While the AP CSP course has enrolled a more diverse group of students than previous AP CS courses, it is not as diverse as other AP courses. CE programs appear to have better penetration than AP among schools that predominantly serve underrepresented minorities and low-SES students, showing promise for broadening participation in other disciplines and encouraging college matriculation.
By implementing and studying CS through CE in two different contexts (rural and low-SES in Minnesota and urban, diverse, and low-SES in Connecticut), the project contributes to transforming the educational pathways in CS in a variety of contexts and to understanding the supports and barriers to implementing CSP as CE with a broadening-participation goal. This project provides professional development and support of 40 high school teachers to teach a CE version of the Mobile CSP course among partnering school districts over the course of 3 years. The goals of this RPP project are (1) to examine and address the supports and barriers to implementing and sustaining Mobile CSP as a concurrent enrollment course and (2) to study whether a CE implementation of the CSP course broadens participation in computing.
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.
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.
The main goal of our project was to increase participation in computing especially among females and under represented minorities. At Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU), since the inception of this project in the 2019 – 2020 school year, we have offered 35 sections of our Essentials of Computing using Mobile CSP, through our College Now concurrent enrollment program. There were 246 total students in these sections. The demographics for these 248 students were: 74 female (30%), 199 white or Asian (81%), and 34 (14%) under represented minorities.
The percentage of female students grew sharply from 25% in the first year to a maximum of 40%. Thus, the goal of increasing female participation was achieved when compared to females making up only 34% of AP Computer Science Principles students and 25% of AP Computer Science A students in 2022.
The percentage of under represented minorities in the course grew from 12% in the first year to 17% in 2022 – 2023. According to 2020 census data, 81% of Minnesotans at that time were white or Asian. This percentage is greater in rural Minnesota which is where most of the high schools offering Essentials of Computing using Mobile CSP are located.
Our target was to offer our course in twenty Minnesota high schools to 400 students. The 35 sections were offered in 17 distinct schools. The total enrollment of 246 fell short of our goal. We believe that the COVID 19 pandemic is largely to blame for this as enrollments jumped from 56 to 88 between the first and second year but dropped to 44 the third (2021 – 2022). Since COVID, high schools in our service area of rural southwest Minnesota have been reluctant to commit resources to elective classes. Since computing is not a high-school standard in Minnesota, our course is purely elective. The number of students enrolled grew to 58 for the fourth and final year of the project (2022 – 2023). There are currently eight sections of Essentials of Computing using Mobile CSP running this academic year.
Last Modified: 01/29/2024
Modified by: Daniel Kaiser
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