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Full-Text Articles in Education

Putting Making Into High School Computer Science Classrooms: Promoting Equity In Teaching And Learning With Electronic Textiles In Exploring Computer Science, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai, Tomoko Nakajima, Joanna Goode, Jane Margolis May 2018

Putting Making Into High School Computer Science Classrooms: Promoting Equity In Teaching And Learning With Electronic Textiles In Exploring Computer Science, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai, Tomoko Nakajima, Joanna Goode, Jane Margolis

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Recent discussions of making have focused on developing out-of-school makerspaces and activities to provide more equitable and enriching learning opportunities for youth. Yet school classrooms present a unique opportunity to help broaden access, diversify representation, and deepen participation in making. In turning to classrooms, we want to understand the crucial practices that teachers employ in broadening and deepening access to making. In this paper, we investigate two high school teachers’ approaches in implementing a novel eight-week, electronic textiles unit within the Exploring Computer Science curriculum, where students designed wearable electronic textile projects with microcontrollers, sensors, and LEDs. We share teachers’ …


People Like Me: Providing Relatable And Realistic Role Models For Underrepresented Minorities In Stem To Increase Their Motivation And Likelihood Of Success, Nir Aish, Philip Asare, Elif Eda Miskioglu Mar 2018

People Like Me: Providing Relatable And Realistic Role Models For Underrepresented Minorities In Stem To Increase Their Motivation And Likelihood Of Success, Nir Aish, Philip Asare, Elif Eda Miskioglu

Faculty Conference Papers and Presentations

Despite efforts to increase participation of racial and ethnic minorities (excluding Asians) in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the United States, this group remains underrepresented in these fields. Many efforts to increase minority participation focus on support structures to help this group “get through” the pipeline. However, less attention has been paid to increasing their intrinsic motivation to pursue careers in STEM. Our work is focused on increasing this intrinsic motivation, looking at role models as external influences. Underrepresented minorities are faced with a limited role model pool and in many cases with role models (who we call …


Pythagorean Combinations For Lego Robot Building., Ronald I. Greenberg Jan 2018

Pythagorean Combinations For Lego Robot Building., Ronald I. Greenberg

Ronald Greenberg

This paper provides tips for LEGO robot construction involving bracing or gear meshing along a diagonal using standard Botball kits.


The Impact Of Meaningful High School Computer Science Experiences In The Chicago Public Schools, Ronald I. Greenberg Jan 2018

The Impact Of Meaningful High School Computer Science Experiences In The Chicago Public Schools, Ronald I. Greenberg

Ronald Greenberg

We report on initial outcomes of the Taste of Computing project, under which a meaningful computer science course has been initiated in many high schools of the Chicago Public Schools system. Surveys of students have shown that they attribute high value to the course and have experienced increases in their understanding and interest regarding the computing field. Data was also collected from teachers participating in professional development regarding their preparation and confidence in teaching the new course. We report on the strengths of various survey responses and their relationships, and we compare student responses by race and gender. The data …


The Impact Of The Exploring Computer Science Instructional Model In Chicago Public Schools, Ronald I. Greenberg Jan 2018

The Impact Of The Exploring Computer Science Instructional Model In Chicago Public Schools, Ronald I. Greenberg

Ronald Greenberg

As part of the Taste of Computing project, the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) instructional model has been expanded to many high schools in the Chicago Public Schools system. We report on initial outcomes showing that students value the ECS course experience, resulting in increased awareness of and interest in the field of computer science. We compare these results by race and gender. The data provide a good basis for exploring the impact of meaningful computer science instruction on students from groups underrepresented in computing; of several hundred students surveyed, nearly half were female, and over half were Hispanic or African-American.


Pythagorean Approximations For Lego: Merging Educational Robot Construction With Programming And Data Analysis, Ronald I. Greenberg Jan 2018

Pythagorean Approximations For Lego: Merging Educational Robot Construction With Programming And Data Analysis, Ronald I. Greenberg

Ronald Greenberg

Abstract. This paper can be used in two ways. It can provide reference information for incorporating diagonal elements (for bracing or gear meshing) in educational robots built from standard LEGO kits. Alternatively, it can be used as the basis for an assignment for high school or college students to recreate this information; in the process, students will exercise skills in both computer programming and data analysis. Using the paper in the second way can be an excellent integrative experience to add to an existing course; for example, the Exploring Computer Science high school curriculum concludes with the units “Introduction to …