Enhancing Critical Reasoning in Computer Education

增强计算机教育中的批判性推理

• 批准号: 1565586
• 负责人: John Etienne
• 金额: $ 19.64万
• 依托单位: St. Johns River State College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-07-01 至 2019-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1565586&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Enhancing; Critical; Reasoning; Computer; Education

Working collaboratively with industry partners, this project at Saint Johns River State College in Florida is designed to increase the practical knowledge, critical thinking skills, and work-readiness of computer science and information technology (CS/IT) graduates to meet local industry demand for highly trained technicians in the CS/IT fields in Northeast Florida by incorporating problem-based learning (PBL) and emphasizing critical thinking throughout the computer education curriculum. Incorporation of PBL in CS/IT is also designed to increase participation, retention, and success of women. The program will leverage student talent to address current community problems and expose students to the need for CS/IT in fields outside the traditional industries by incorporating community-based learning techniques in the capstone course. The project will be disseminated through the project website, ATE Central, and an annual Curriculum Showcase. Curriculum development projects will be widely available for use and adaption by other CS/IT training programs.The project will expand the critical thinking skills of CS/IT graduates and impact more than 200 students per year taking foundational and higher level courses leading to 11 college credit certificates and 4 associate degrees in Networking, Programming, Information Technology and Internet Services. Specifically, 1) the foundational introductory classes will be revised to teach key technical and critical thinking processes through problems drawn directly from industry, 2) critical thinking and problem-solving learning outcomes will be mapped and integrated in higher level courses, and 3) the capstone course will be revised to require students to work with community and industry leaders to identify and develop novel solutions for current, real-life challenges. Local business members will participate as members of the curriculum design team, provide problems, and review the new curriculum. The entire CS/IT faculty, including adjunct faculty, will be involved in the program design and implementation to benefit from the technical expertise of all CS/IT fields and ensure that new pedagogies are implemented across the curriculum. They will participate in curriculum redesign efforts and in professional development activities to share pedagogical changes and incorporate PBL consistently and effectively. Tutors from academic support centers at the college will be included in professional development trainings to ensure they are prepared to assist students with the new problem-based curriculum. Students will develop technical skills, cultivate critical reasoning and creative abilities, and be prepared to innovate, adapt and thrive in the competitive and evolving CS/IT industry. The program will draw from successful PBL programs in engineering and computer education to integrate additional critical thinking and hands-on learning with the strong technical aspects of the current CS/IT curriculum. This will ensure that skills that students need to gain in the courses will meet the new and evolving needs of industry. New PBL pedagogies will be built-in through a step-wise process beginning with the foundational courses. The effectiveness of these changes will be evaluated and improvement made prior to incorporation into the next level of courses. Gains in critical thinking will be determined through pre- and post-test assessments. An independent evaluator will provide an annual summative and formative review of the program.

与行业合作伙伴合作，佛罗里达州圣约翰斯河州立学院的该项目旨在提高计算机科学和信息技术（CS/IT）毕业生的实践知识，批判性思维能力和工作重视，以满足当地行业对北部佛罗里达州CS/IT领域训练有素的技术人员的需求，通过将基于问题的学习（PBL）整合到佛罗里达州（PBL），并在整个计算机上进行批判性思维，并强调批判性地思考。将PBL纳入CS/IT还旨在增加女性的参与，保留和成功。该计划将利用学生的才能解决当前的社区问题，并通过将基于社区的学习技术纳入Capstone课程，使学生在传统行业以外的领域中了解CS/IT的需求。该项目将通过项目网站，Ate Central和年度课程展示进行传播。课程开发项目将被其他CS/IT培训计划广泛用于使用和适应。该项目将扩大CS/IT毕业生的批判性思维技能，并每年攻击200多名学生，参加了基础和高级课程，从而获得了11个大学信用证书和4个大学信用证，并在网络，计划，信息技术和Internet Services中获得了4个副学士学位。具体来说，1）将通过直接从行业中提取的问题进行修订基础入门班，以教授关键的技术和批判性思维过程，2）批判性思维和解决问题的学习成果将被绘制和整合到更高级别的课程中，3）将修订Capstone课程，以要求学生与社区和行业领导者一起工作，以确定和开发现有的新颖解决方案，以实现现有的现实挑战。本地企业成员将作为课程设计团队的成员参加，提供问题并审查新课程。包括兼职教职员工在内的整个CS/IT教师将参与计划设计和实施，以受益于所有CS/IT领域的技术专长，并确保在整个课程中实施新的教学法。他们将参加课程重新设计工作和专业发展活动，以共享教学变化，并始终如一，有效地合并PBL。该学院学术支持中心的导师将包括在专业发展培训中，以确保他们准备帮助学生提供新的基于问题的课程。学生将发展技术技能，培养关键的推理和创造力，并准备在竞争和不断发展的CS/IT行业中进行创新，适应和繁荣。该计划将从成功的工程和计算机教育方面的PBL计划中汲取灵感，以将其他批判性思维和动手学习与当前CS/IT课程的强大技术方面相结合。这将确保学生在课程中需要获得的技能将满足行业的新需求。从基础课程开始的逐步过程将内置新的PBL教学法。这些更改的有效性将得到评估，并在将其纳入下一个课程之前进行改进。批判性思维的收益将通过测试前和测试后的评估来确定。独立评估者将对该计划提供年度总结和形成性的审查。