This project is built on the premise that computer science courses offered at high schools should not be merely about computer literacy but must include essential computing concepts and computational practices set in the context of applications of interest to diverse learners. The project team plans to develop a curriculum and program of teacher professional development designed to engage high school teachers and students in rigorous computing methods. The program targets students underrepresented in computing -- women, underrepresented minorities (African Americans, Hispanics, and American Indians), and students in underserved rural regions of New Hampshire (NH).
Intellectual Merit The program provides professional development and teaching resources for high school teachers from Career and Technology Education (CTE) centers and an out-of-school program for high school students offered through Cooperative Extension at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). The project team builds on the existing collaborations among UNH Cooperative Extension, NH CTE centers, and NH Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-1 project, UNH's Teacher Education and Computing Technology Programs, and local industry partners. The program includes development of applications for Android mobile devices and projects related to environmental science and ecosystem research that involve large datasets. Course materials are being adapted from the Exploring Computer Science curriculum which was piloted in 2008-2009 in the Los Angeles Unified School District and later adopted by other places.
Broader Impacts The five-year project will engage four Extension educators, twenty-two teachers from sixteen CTE centers and four hundred and twenty students through programs offered throughout the academic year and summer sessions. The CTE centers and summer school sites selected for this project are in NH's urban and diverse, rural, and low-income regions. An openly licensed repository of curriculum and teaching resources will be created and disseminated to students, teachers, and project collaborators including industry partners. The model of preparing the teachers and working with the community partners to empower underrepresented minority groups in computing is scalable, transferrable, and replicable at other institutions nationwide.
