A Platform for Embodied Coding in Virtual and Augmented Reality
PosterThe increasing sophistication and availability of Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) technologies wield the potential to transform how we teach and learn computational concepts and coding. This project develops a platform for creative coding in virtual and augmented reality. The Embodied Coding Environment (ECE) is a node-based system developed in the Unity game engine. It is conceptualized as a merged digital/physical workspace where spatial representations of code, the visual outputs of the code, and user editing histories are co-located in a virtual 3D space.
Peering a Generation into the Future: NSF's Young Scholars Program (YSP) and the nation’s STEM workforce
PosterThis project is a multiyear study of the impact of an enrichment program that the US National Science Foundation (NSF) managed in the 1990s. The Young Scholars Program (YSP) involved around 18,000 7th–12th grade students and 600 separate grants between 1989 and 1996. The purpose of YSP was to introduce high-achieving middle and secondary school students to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields to encourage their entry into those fields and thus increase the size and quality of the nation’s STEM workforce.
Co-Robots to Enhance Motivation and Self-efficacy in Formal STEM Education
PosterHealthcare is becoming robotics reliant. Hands-on learning of assistive and rehabilitation robotics in meaningful contexts such as improving quality of life will broaden the participation of underrepresented students including females and ethnic minorities.
Developing and Testing Bilingual Curricula that Infuse Authentic Computer Programming Experiences into Middle School Mathematics for Latinx Youth
PosterThe project's central goals are threefold: (1) to provide access to meaningful bilingual computer programming and mathematics (CPM) experiences to Latinx middle school students, (2) to develop a bilingual CPM curriculum based on Python and Jupyter Notebook to provide visual representations of mathematics concepts, and 3) to prepare and work with teachers through interdisciplinary teams and action research to integrate CPM into the school curriculum.
Adapting and Implementing a Geospatial High School Course in Career and Technical Education Clusters in Urban Settings
PosterThis project aims to adapt the Geospatial Semester for Career and Technical Education in a large urban district through effective teacher professional development and lesson design.
Project eSPAC3: A Culturally Affirming Approach to Spatial Computational Thinking Skills and Career Awareness
PosterProject eSPAC3 aims to develop upper-elementary students’ spatial computational thinking skills and awareness of computationally-intensive careers by designing an immersive Latinx culturally affirming enactive learning experience in Minecraft Education Edition which emphasizes family engagement, near-peer mentorship, peer collaboration and expert modeling.
Collaborative Research: STEM Career Connections
PosterThe goal for the STEM Career Connections project is to develop an innovative career readiness model for both in and out of school settings that will profoundly increase the knowledge of, and interest in, STEM and computing careers for middle school youth in a rural mountain community who are often underserved in STEM fields.
ARX21: Augmented Reality in STEM Classrooms
PosterIn this project students use augmented reality to learn science content and then create augmented reality to demonstrate their learning and understanding. By exposing students to AR in core science courses all students take (such as biology), students typically underrepresented in STEM and computer science will increase interest and motivation to explore those career pathways.
Engaging African American Young Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship Through Community-Centered Making
PosterThe AAMASE project is developing and researching a model for engaging high-school-aged African American women from low-income families in STEM-related making and entrepreneurship educational programs.