13537 Views (as of 05/2023)
  1. Joan Freese
  2. PI, SciGirls Code
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. Twin Cities Public Television
  1. Sarah Carter
  2. Manager, STEM Media & Education
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. Twin Cities Public Television
  1. Katie Hessen
  2. STEM Content and Outreach Specialist
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. Twin Cities Public Television
  1. Cassandra Scharber
  2. Associate Professor of Learning Technologies
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. University of Minnesota
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SciGirls Code: A National Connected Learning Model to Integrate Computing in ...

NSF Awards: 1543209

2018 (see original presentation & discussion)

Grades 6-8

SciGirls Code, a pilot program funded by the National Science Foundation STEM + C program, uses principles of connected learning with 16 STEM outreach partners to provide 160 girls and their 32 leaders with computational thinking and coding skills. To reach this goal, SciGirls developed:

  • a nine-month curriculum centering on three tracks—mobile apps, robotics, and e-textiles;
  • role model training for female technology professionals;
  • professional development for STEM educators;
and
  • a research component that investigates the ways in which computational learning experiences impact the development of computational thinking as well as interest and attitudes toward computer science (CS).

Connected learning is a learner-focused approach that harnesses the advances and innovations of our connected age to serve learning. Connected learning seeks to integrate three spheres of learning that are often disconnected in young people’s lives: peer culture, interests, and academic content.

The SciGirls Code research study investigates the ways in which computational learning experiences impact the development of computational thinking, interest, and attitudes toward computer science. Research questions are:

  • How do computational learning experiences impact the development of computational thinking? [learning]
  • How does engaging in computational learning experiences impact interest in and attitudes towards computer science? [interest] 

  • How does engaging in computational participation practices impact learners’ perspectives of self and world? [participation]

SciGirls Code partners include the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP), the University of Minnesota Learning Technologies Media Lab, SciGirls CONNECT partner programs and an advisory board of practitioners, CS researchers, and learning scientists. An independent program evaluation will be conducted by EDC.

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Discussion from the 2018 STEM for All Video Showcase (22 posts)
  • Icon for: Joan Freese

    Joan Freese

    Lead Presenter
    PI, SciGirls Code
    May 14, 2018 | 12:17 a.m.


    Thanks for stopping by to view our SciGirls Code video. We are very excited to be completing implementation at 16 sites around the country this month. The girls (and their teachers) are really inspiring! Take a look and please share your thoughts. We welcome all comments, questions, and feedback about our project.




     


  • Icon for: Irene Lee

    Irene Lee

    Facilitator
    Research Scientist
    May 14, 2018 | 09:47 a.m.

    I really enjoyed your presentation.  Could you tell me more about the program itself?  How many contact hours do you have with the girls, over what time period?  What percentage of that time are girls in communication with other girls through the FlipGrid network?   Also, you mention a shift towards greater interest in CS.  I am wondering if this interest is specific to girls-only CS classes / programs in the future?  (We found this with GUTS y Girls, growth in interest in CS but a wish to pursue more CS in a girls only context.)

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Cassandra Scharber
  • Icon for: Katie Hessen

    Katie Hessen

    Co-Presenter
    STEM Content and Outreach Specialist
    May 14, 2018 | 02:30 p.m.

    The SciGirls Code program is being run at 16 different sites across the country with girls in grades 5-8. Our curriculum was designed for groups to meet for at least 109 hours over a 9 month period. However, as this is a pilot project, there has been some variation among program sites. The curriculum is divided into 3 content strands: Mobile App Development, Robotics, and E-Textiles. The activities in each strand come mainly from preexisting, high-quality curriculum. Examples include Thunkable, Sphero, Hummingbird, Chibitronics, Lilypad, and Code.org.

    Use of Flipgrid varied widely by program site.  We created Flipgrid opportunities for girls and educators to introduce themselves, ask and answer questions, share projects and ideas, and interact with role models. Some sites had girls who posted and/or responded to each Flipgrid topic, while some sites only posted once, or not at all.

  • Icon for: Cassandra Scharber

    Cassandra Scharber

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor of Learning Technologies
    May 15, 2018 | 01:30 p.m.

    Hi Irene! Great question... We are in the final stages of data collection, so I cannot share results yet. Anecdotally, girls from a few programs have shared that they are interested in taking CS classes in school (which are not gender-specific), and many have shared that they want to do more programs like SGC (girls-only). I will need to circle back with you once we have completed data collection and analysis! 

  • Icon for: Katie Rich

    Katie Rich

    Facilitator
    Graduate Student
    May 14, 2018 | 10:10 a.m.

    Joan and all,

    I enjoyed this video, especially hearing from your participants! I'm interested in hearing more about the communication that happens over FlipGrid. Do the girls use this only to share their work with the other sites, or is there some collaboration across sites on shared projects as well? What's your perception of how the distance communication is contributing to the sense of community in your project?

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Cassandra Scharber
  • Icon for: Cassandra Scharber

    Cassandra Scharber

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor of Learning Technologies
    May 14, 2018 | 10:16 a.m.

    Hi Katie! The girls use FG to share their work, both in progress work and final projects. To date, there is no collaboration on shared, cross-program projects. The curriculum is not designed to do that. In each site, the girls can work individually, in teams, or in pairs on projects. The research that is investigating the connections between sites via FG is still ongoing, so we don't have results to share about sense of community yet. Your question really goes to the heart of connected learning though -- and we are very interested in understanding it. Stay tuned!

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Katie Rich
  • Icon for: Deborah Fields

    Deborah Fields

    Researcher
    May 14, 2018 | 02:02 p.m.

    So exciting to see this work developing. Love that you are working in three areas of CS. Where have you seen the intersections between those domains (apps, robotics, e-textiles)? Are there areas that are more synergistic or that build on each other?

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Cassandra Scharber
  • Icon for: Joan Freese

    Joan Freese

    Lead Presenter
    PI, SciGirls Code
    May 14, 2018 | 08:54 p.m.

    Hi, Deborah--

    The work in the three strands builds in terms of girls going from block programming to text-based programming. The computational thinking principles also build across the three tracks. I'm not sure if we are seeing additional intersections between the domains -- and perhaps Cassie or some of the researchers from her lab can add more on this note. But I was at an e-textile fashion showcase for one of the sites tonight and one of the teachers remarked that the girls have developed their abilities to talk about their work and more specifically the technical aspects of what they are doing over the nine months of the program. It was a really smart showcase because in addition to the runway show, each girl had a poster describing her project. I told the girls the posters were awesome because that's how STEM and tech people share their work with other people at conferences. They are the real deal!  

  • Icon for: Dale McCreedy

    Dale McCreedy

    Vice President of Audience & Community Engagement
    May 14, 2018 | 05:19 p.m.

    We are a SciGirls code pilot site and have had an incredible relationship with our awesome partnering teacher and have loved seeing the girls create. They are coming this week to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro TN to share their robots and visit the museum. Thanks TPT - an awesome experience for all of us.

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Cassandra Scharber
  • Icon for: Joan Freese

    Joan Freese

    Lead Presenter
    PI, SciGirls Code
    May 14, 2018 | 08:57 p.m.

    Thanks, Dale. It's great to have the Discovery Center in the mix, and we're so glad you found a good partner educator in Murfreesboro! Take lots of pictures of the robots! 

  • Icon for: Cassandra Scharber

    Cassandra Scharber

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor of Learning Technologies
    May 15, 2018 | 01:45 p.m.

    so great to hear from you, Dale! YAY! can't wait to hear more. 

  • Icon for: Denise Nacu

    Denise Nacu

    Researcher
    May 16, 2018 | 06:28 p.m.

    The scale and the depth of the 9-month program is so impressive! I'm wondering what you have seen in terms of attendance and persistence in the program. Not sure if this was in the video or not, but I wondered if this program is tied to the school or out-out-of school context. In our work in informal contexts, we have found that, for various reasons, committing to a long-term program can be challenging.

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Cassandra Scharber
  • Icon for: Joan Freese

    Joan Freese

    Lead Presenter
    PI, SciGirls Code
    May 17, 2018 | 09:35 a.m.

    Hi, Denise --

    Thank you for your interest in our work!

    Our project is done in out-of-school time. In terms of attrition, we have experienced some. Thankfully, this did not disrupt our research work! We are looking at scaling the project and are thinking about chunking the curriculum into 3-month blocks. (That's basically what we have now, but we'd let groups program single blocks at a time, rather than stringing three together for nine months of programming.)

    Another interesting finding was that some girls came into the program with more experience. They wanted to get to the more complex technology pronto, but our current curriculum scaffolds over the nine months. So if we divide into blocks, a program with experienced girls can engage with the more complex material right away. We also plan to add blocks/strands in the areas of digital games, big data, and security. This is all blue-sky right now, we will do more complete analysis/planning once our research findings are complete.  

  • Icon for: Allison Theobold

    Allison Theobold

    Graduate Student
    May 17, 2018 | 11:46 a.m.

    What an interesting project empowering young women across the country! Our project is also working with increasing the interest and participation in computer science to underrepresented populations, in the state of Montana. From your research questions, what preliminary findings have you seen regarding these girls' interest and attitudes towards CS? Have you found that the girls interacting with CS "role models" on FlipGrid helps to shape their interest and attitudes? 

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Cassandra Scharber
  • Icon for: Cassandra Scharber

    Cassandra Scharber

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor of Learning Technologies
    May 17, 2018 | 02:01 p.m.

    Hi Allison! I just peeked at your project last night -- looks so fabulous! I am so happy you reached out. One thing we learned right away is that many of the girls enrolled in SGC already were interested and/or had experience in CS or coding. What we have been learning as the programs have been running is that girls' interest and attitudes towards CS have remained constant or increased (because many girls came in with interest already). The role model part to SGC is just starting to be analyzed, so I cannot share anything concretely. The role models interacted with programs F2F, real-time online, and through FG (asynchronously). The role model efforts was also different in different programs. We know that we will build on this component in the next version of SGC -- it promises to be an important part to the project. So, stay tuned? 

  • Icon for: Nidaa Makki

    Nidaa Makki

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 18, 2018 | 11:47 a.m.

    Very interesting project! I enjoyed seeing the students present the project in your video. I am interested in learning more about your research instruments. How are you measuring learning in computational thinking, interest and participation? 

    I am also curious about documenting impact of the program if the girls already came in with high interest. 

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Cassandra Scharber
  • Icon for: Cassandra Scharber

    Cassandra Scharber

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor of Learning Technologies
    May 18, 2018 | 01:13 p.m.

    Hello Nina! This research project is a qualitative, multi-site case study with 2 groups of sites: focal and participating. Data sources include surveys, artifact-based interviews at 3 moments during curriculum, observations, FlipGrid videos, and photos. CT is being assessed in all data sources. We modified the artifact-interviews after Brennan & Resnick's work with Scratch: http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/ct/ 

    Preliminary results from pre-program surveys + first artifact interviews are illustrating that many of these girls have previous experience with coding and that they liked it. 

    Happy to share more about the research design. Thanks for your interest!

  • Xiaoxue

    Graduate Student
    May 18, 2018 | 10:55 p.m.

    Thank you for sharing the project. I would like to know more about your perspectives of computational thinking. Also, I would like to know how the study designed to develop students' skills in computational thinking, since computational thinking is not referring to computer science. It is a great project. Thank you for sharing!

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Cassandra Scharber
  • Icon for: Cassandra Scharber

    Cassandra Scharber

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor of Learning Technologies
    May 21, 2018 | 01:15 p.m.

    Hello, Xiaoxue! 

    This research project is a qualitative, multi-site case study with data sources include surveys, artifact-based interviews at 3 moments during curriculum, observations, FlipGrid videos, and photos. CT is being assessed in all data sources. The CT definition/conceptualization the projects is using stems from Brennan & Resnick's work with Scratch: http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/ct/ 

    Both computer science and computational thinking are woven into the curriculum. The CT vocabulary is based on Brennan + Resnick's work as well. The 9-month curriculum has 3 strands that are intended to build on each other: mobile app development, robotics, and e-textiles. 

    Thank you for your interest!

  • Icon for: Susanne Steiger-escobar

    Susanne Steiger-escobar

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 19, 2018 | 04:04 p.m.

    Great project!  So rewarding to see the girls talking about their projects! You mention that many of the girls came in with previous experience in coding.  What is the retention and success rate among those that came with no programming experience at all?   Thanks for sharing!

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Cassandra Scharber
  • Icon for: Cassandra Scharber

    Cassandra Scharber

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor of Learning Technologies
    May 21, 2018 | 01:07 p.m.

    Hi Susanne! We are still collecting and analyzing data related to retention. This is a 9-month program, so many of them are finishing now and into June. We should have some things to share in a few months. Stay tuned. Thanks so much for your enthusiasm!

  • Icon for: Jessica Andrews

    Jessica Andrews

    Project Director
    May 21, 2018 | 06:31 p.m.

     This is such an interesting project, and I love that we get to hear some young voices in your video. These girls look really engaged! Looking forward to seeing the results of your research when it's complete.

  • Further posting is closed as the event has ended.