Computer Science Collaboration Project
March 2011

The vision of the Computer Science Collaboration Project is to efficiently increase participation of underrepresented groups in computer science opportunities and activities by effectively building collaborations between K-12, community-based organizations, higher education and industry. 

Welcome to the Computer Science Collaboration Project!

kids and computers

The Computer Science Collaboration Project uses the most successful elements of the

National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) to connect K-12 outreach programs, professional organizations, and companies as well as alliances that are part of the Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) community, specifically focusing on outreach to and collaboration with persons with disabilities, African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and women.  We are working in partnership with the Computer Science Teachers Association, Computing Alliance for Hispanic-Serving InstitutionsAccessSTEM, and will be adding additional partners as we create our collaboration networks.  

 

This is the first issue of our newsletter to introduce you to our project.  Future issues will share upcoming events, exemplary practices, resources, and project updates.  This work is partially supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, Grant No. CNS-0940646.

Events

CSCP Webcast The Power of Collaboration: Providing High-Quality Computer Science Opportunities to K-12 Youth 

Thursday, March 31, 2011

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific

This webcast features two projects that utilize collaboration to engage underrepresented youth in Computer Science activities: The Computer Science Collaboration Project, which aims to efficiently increase participation of underrepresented groups and Watsonville Tecnología-Educación-Comunidad (TEC), an afterschool technology program for Latino youth.

Register: http://www.cscproject.org/march2011webcast 

 

2011 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference

San Francisco, California

April 3-5, 2011

Now in its tenth year, this conference includes stellar invited speakers, a student poster competition, a daylong Doctoral Consortium, a session featuring a choice of attractions unique to San Francisco, a gala banquet and dance, and many exciting networking opportunities.

Register: http://www.tapiaconference.org/2011

 

CSCP Webcast Engaging Latino Youth in Computer Science: Current Research and Program Models

Thursday, May 12, 2011

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific

This webcast brings together research and practice to highlight effective strategies for engaging Latino youth in Computer Science activities, featuring Jill Denner of Education, Training, Research (ETR) Associates and Irene Lee of Growing Up Thinking Scientifically (GUTS).

Register: http://www.cscproject.org/may2011webcast

 

CSTA Corner

A new report published by CSTA and ACM provide the findings of year-long research project that looked at how  computer science education standards were reflected in current state standards and the results are both startling and worrisome.

 

Running on Empty: The Failure to Teach K-12 Computer Science in the Digital Age finds that roughly two-thirds of the country have few computer science education standards for secondary school education, and most states treat high school computer science courses as simply an elective and not part of a student's core education. The results are particularly shocking because computer science and the technologies it enables now lie at the heart of our economy, our daily lives, and scientific enterprise. As the digital age has transformed the world and workforce, U.S. K-12 education has fallen woefully behind in preparing students with the fundamental computer science knowledge and skills they need for future success. To be a well-educated citizen as we move toward an ever-more computing-intensive world and to be prepared for the jobs of the 21st Century, students must have a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of computer science.

 

In addition to providing the general results of the research, the authors have created a report card for each state which shows the extent to which the national standards provided in the ACM Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science Education are (or are not) reflected in the state business, computing, math, science, and technology standards. They have created an online roll over map showing these results by state.  

http://csta.acm.org/runningonempty/roemap.html.

CSCP Program Directory - Register Your Program Today!

The CSCP Program Directory lists organizations and programs that focus on motivating underrepresented youth to pursue careers in computer science. (If your program is in the NGCP Program Directory, it has automatically been included in the CSCP Program Directory.) 

 

The purpose of the CSCP Program Directory is to help organizations and individuals network, share resources, and collaborate on computer science related projects.  The Directory contains Program descriptions, resources available within each organization, Program and/or organization needs, and contact information.  Submitted entries undergo review and verification prior to publication.  Register your Program today: http://www.cscproject.org/index.php?q=pd/newprogram.

Resources

Exploring Computational Thinking

Teachers in collaboration with Google engineers have put together classroom-ready lessons, examples, and programs illustrating how educators can incorporate computational thinking (CT) into the K-12 curriculum. Educators are encouraged to re-use and adapt these resources to suit their own classroom needs as well as build and share their own CT curriculum. All provided materials are under the Creative Commons license. 

http://www.google.com/edu/ect

 

Faces of Computing

This site, created by the Association of Computing Machinery, links to stories created by Computer Science students about the excitement and diversity of computer science careers.

http://computingcareers.acm.org/?page_id=61

 

Computer Science Unplugged

CS Unplugged is a collection of free learning activities that teach Computer Science through engaging games and puzzles that use cards, string, crayons and lots of running around!

http://csunplugged.org

CSCP Change Agents Council

The Computer Science Collaboration Project is fortunate to have a Change Agents Council guiding our work.  Council members represent diverse organizations and experience, including business and industry, K-12 outreach, community-based informal learning programs, and higher education institutions. The role of the Change Agents Council is to support the project in each member's own realm, disseminate project information and resources, and to advise project leadership on overall project implementation.  We will be highlighting our Council members and their organizations in future issues.

About the EdLab Group

EdLab Group The EdLab Group is a private, non-profit center with funding from federal and state governments, private foundations, corporations, and individuals. Our mission is to leverage the power of technology and diversity to transform teaching and learning.

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