Broadening Participation in a Computational Future: Casting a Wide Net

Science education faces two interrelated challenges. First, our education system is not producing enough computational professionals to fill current and projected demand. Second, women and minorities remain significantly underrepresented. We propose a Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR) project to develop a model in which computational curriculum is embedded throughout required biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics coursework. This would ensure that every high school student is exposed to computational thinking activities in a context that demonstrates its relevance to real world career paths and creates exciting new ways for students to engage in inquiry activities. Our project would work intensively with three Chicago Public High Schools with majority African American and Latino student populations. Our project builds on existing work and seeks to address the following questions: 1. What individual and institutional factors affect the success of this and similar innovations in large, resource-constrained public schools? What constraints should be considered at the level of classrooms, infrastructural support, and administration? 2. What factors affect equitable motivation and achievement for students? 3. Do computational thinking skills and practices affect student motivation and learning, particularly with respect to STEM subject areas?