This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research project undertakes a major improvement in the cost-benefit equation of learning computer programming. The approach integrates a new programming paradigm particularly suited to real-time, high-interactivity applications, with advances in program liveness and visualization, and game-based learning of essential concepts and skills. The strategy is to draw learners onward and upward through continued creative empowerment, while also facilitating more direct engagement with the core intellectual content of computer programming.
If successful, this research project will lead to products that will engage over half a million learners in mastering fundamental computational topics and orient them to creative purposes, thereby addressing these major national priorities: 1) workforce preparation and technological fluency; 2) rebuilding computer science enrollment and retention at the college level; 3) alternative, hands-on pathways into algebra and mathematics for students who struggle with traditional instruction; and 4) cultivating technology-based creativity among young people.
