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Design and evaluation of a computer science and engineering course for middle school girls

Published: 10 March 2010 Publication History

Abstract

A significant focus in the United States recently has been to increase engagement and interest in STEM curricula, particularly among girls and underrepresented minorities [3]. In this work, we take an approach to teaching and learning that supports flexibility, experimentation, and play with technology. With this approach, we aim to make STEM curricula more comfortable and engaging for all types of children and teens, with a particular emphasis on lower socio-economic status female students. We designed and tested a computing course for middle school girls, and this work resulted in three best practices: hands-on work incorporating creativity through crafts into engineering and computing, the frequent presence of an audience to motivate engagement, and engineering-focused individual roles structuring group work. Pre- and post-surveys and exit interviews revealed significant changes in attitudes and an enthusiasm for engineering projects and careers as a result of participation in the course.

References

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Beckman, M. (1990) Collaborative Learning: Preparation for the Workplace and Democracy, College Teaching, 38(4), 128--133.
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Cohen, E. (1994) Designing groupwork: Strategies for the heterogeneous classroom. Teachers College Press, Columbia University, NYC, NY.
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Ericson, B., Guzdial, M., and Biggers, M. (2007) Improving secondary CS education: progress and problems. SIGCSE Bull. 39, 1, 298--301.
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Ericson, B., McKlin, T. Girl Scouts Compute! (http://gacomputes.cc.gatech.edu/Members/jpdimond/girlScouts2009-sigcse-barb.pdf) Retrieved Sept 11, 2009.
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Hayes, G. R., Piper, A. M., Amar, B., Bevis, K. J., Newstetter, W., and Bruckman, A. S. (2004) Audience in Computer Learning: A Constructionist Interpretation. Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences. (June 22--26, 2004, Santa Monica, CA, USA).
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Kohn, A. (1986) No Contest: The Case Against Competition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
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Margolis, J. and Fisher, A. (2002) Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
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Papert, S. (1980) Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. Basic Books, Inc.
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Piaget, J. P. (1962). Play, dreams, and imitation in childhood. New York: Norton.
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Slavin, R. E. (1990) Cooperative learning: Theory, research and practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall.
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Vygotzky, L. S. (1978) Mind in Society. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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  • (2022)Re-examining inequalities in computer science participation from a Bourdieusian sociological perspectiveACM Inroads10.1145/351421213:1(26-40)Online publication date: 14-Feb-2022
  • (2021)Fundamentals of Physical Computing: Determining Key Concepts in Embedded Systems and Hardware/Software Co-DesignProceedings of the 16th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education10.1145/3481312.3481352(1-10)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2021
  • (2021)Re-Examining Inequalities in Computer Science Participation from a Bourdieusian Sociological PerspectiveProceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research10.1145/3446871.3469763(379-392)Online publication date: 16-Aug-2021
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cover image ACM Conferences
SIGCSE '10: Proceedings of the 41st ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
March 2010
618 pages
ISBN:9781450300063
DOI:10.1145/1734263
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Published: 10 March 2010

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Author Tags

  1. computer science and engineering education
  2. diversity in computing
  3. gender issues
  4. hands-on curriculum

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Cited By

View all
  • (2022)Re-examining inequalities in computer science participation from a Bourdieusian sociological perspectiveACM Inroads10.1145/351421213:1(26-40)Online publication date: 14-Feb-2022
  • (2021)Fundamentals of Physical Computing: Determining Key Concepts in Embedded Systems and Hardware/Software Co-DesignProceedings of the 16th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education10.1145/3481312.3481352(1-10)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2021
  • (2021)Re-Examining Inequalities in Computer Science Participation from a Bourdieusian Sociological PerspectiveProceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research10.1145/3446871.3469763(379-392)Online publication date: 16-Aug-2021
  • (2021) Supporting Black women's pursuits in STEM Journal of Research in Science Teaching10.1002/tea.2168258:6(879-905)Online publication date: 11-Feb-2021
  • (2018)Computer Programming Workshops with Playful Environments for Middle School Girls2018 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE.2018.8659111(1-9)Online publication date: Oct-2018
  • (2017)Hybrid EnvironmentsProceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research10.1145/3105726.3105743(295-296)Online publication date: 14-Aug-2017
  • (2016)A Review of E-Textiles in Education and SocietyHandbook of Research on the Societal Impact of Digital Media10.4018/978-1-4666-8310-5.ch011(268-290)Online publication date: 2016
  • (2016)Investigating the Role of Being a Mentor as a Way of Increasing Interest in CSProceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education10.1145/2839509.2844581(297-302)Online publication date: 17-Feb-2016
  • (2016)Digital Badges to Enhance Skills and Preparation for a Career in Cyber Security2016 IEEE 40th Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC)10.1109/COMPSAC.2016.97(622-623)Online publication date: Jun-2016
  • (2015)Does Outreach Impact Choices of Major for Underrepresented Undergraduate Students?Proceedings of the eleventh annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research10.1145/2787622.2787711(71-80)Online publication date: 9-Jul-2015
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