This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)
This engineering education research award to Northern Arizona University will employ researchers to develop a web-based platform called "microworlds" as the context for learning Java language programming. This platform will allow instructors to create a specific "microworld" which simulates a real-world problem such as medical records or robotics in a social context. Using "microworlds" computer science would be seen as an exciting multidisciplinary field and users would build problem solving skills, understanding of good software engineering practice, and self efficacy. By bridging the gap between successful introductory programming environments and fully functional programming and software engineering environments, "microworlds" will attract more students to computer science and improve retention which will increase the number of graduates who can fill jobs which need computer science education.
