Introduction to Computer Science for Urban African American Students Using Sphero Robotics Workshop

This paper introduces the use of an all-day coding workshop as an intervention to introduce and expose African American high school students from a southeastern urban school district to coding and computing careers. The workshop is held at a local HBCU and led by African American undergraduates computer science majors who attend that HBCU. The workshop is focused on a robotic ball called an Sphero that allows users to control its motion and color by writing lines of code. Results from workshop showed an increase of interest in pursuing a career in computing after graduation compared to interest before the start of the workshop.

本文介绍了全天编码研讨会的使用作为干预措施，以介绍和揭露从东南城市学区的非裔美国高中生，以进行编码和计算职业。该研讨会在当地的HBCU举行，并由参加HBCU的非裔美国人本科生的计算机科学专业的专业。该研讨会的重点是称为Sphero的机器人球，该机器人可以通过编写代码行来控制其运动和颜色。研讨会的结果表明，与研讨会开始之前的兴趣相比，毕业后从事计算事业的兴趣增加。