Melissa Koch Director of Build IT SRI International Designing for Design Learning Girls Building Information Technology Fluency Through Design Melissa Koch Director of Build IT SRI International

Our IT Workforce Information Technology Workforce issues Current IT workers retire and move into other business areas (Gartner, 2005) Decline in number of individuals graduating with computer science undergraduate or graduate degrees. As much as a 39% drop in some cases (Computing Research Association, 2005) IT labor needs continue to grow and change with technology innovations (U.S. Depart of Commerce, 1999s) Women constitute 45% of the workforce in the U.S. but hold only 12% of science and engineering jobs (National Council for Research on Women, 2001).

Computer science instruction that emphasizes the ‘web’ of associations between programming, design, and other areas of the curriculum would help to attract a more diverse group of learners, and would advance computer fluency for all students. (Tech-Savvy, AAUW, Commission on Technology, Gender, and Teacher Education, 2000).

Mission Develop a problem- and design-based curriculum that promotes middle school girls’ information technology (IT) fluency and incorporates the STEM content of computer science and mathematics.

Goals Motivate middle school girls to use technology and build their technology fluency take high school algebra and geometry courses in preparation for postsecondary STEM education and/or IT careers. explore IT and pursue IT careers. Enhance staff capacity to offer IT fluency programming.

The Girls 150 middle school girls in Alameda County, CA. 82% are African-American and Latina majority comes from low socioeconomic households disseminate to Girls Inc.’s 1,500 program sites nationally

Build IT’s Design Approach Curriculum Development Follow the Understanding by Design (UbD) approach. Engage youth and youth leaders in curriculum development through user-centered and participatory design techniques Feedback sessions Pilot tests with girls and leaders Train-the-trainer professional development Embed formative assessments (i.e. performances tasks) for evaluating girls’ technology fluency Embed formative evaluation for iterative design of the curriculum Curriculum Implementation Teach computer science concepts through design and communication technologies. Teach the design process. Provide individual and design team experiences in participatory and user-centered design.

UbD’s 3 Steps What do we want girls to learn? Being Fluent with Information Technology (NRC) Secretary’s Commission on Necessary Skills (SCANS) National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) A Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science (ACM) Enduring understandings Examples from Unit 2 Enduring understandings is a term from Understanding by Design that refers to the “big ideas” of a discipline that experts know and that are the foundation for building knowledge in the discipline. The enduring understandings or “big ideas” in Build IT draw from the disciplines of computer science and mathematics. Enduring Understandings for Unit 2 Designs have both form (how it is designed, what it looks like) and function (what it is designed to do). The functionality can be visible (e.g. web page navigation and hidden (e.g. html code) to the user. The Internet is a large global network comprised of thousands of smaller networks that allow information to be routed among computers. These structures have an impact on the flow of information that can affect a user’s experience.

UbD’s 3 Steps What evidence will show that they’ve learned it? Embedded Performances (activities and Family Tech Night presentations) Interviews & Observations IT Attitudes Survey IT Concepts Survey What curriculum will foster this learning? Then develop the curriculum Specific questions or performances of this knowledge or skills.

Unit 1 The Design Process Unit 1: Redesigning Your World (one semester, after school; Apprentice level). Performances Tasks: Understanding Elements of the design process; Eliciting and incorporating users’ feedback; Presenting the Design Process Mention Family Tech Night presentations Design: understanding users and working in teams Unit 1: Redesigning Your World (one semester, after school; Apprentice level). In this introductory unit for Build IT, girls explore the designed world through hands-on activities while learning that design is a process that involves identifying and solving problems for a specific group of users.

Six Units Unit 2: Design Online: Communication Tools and the Internet (one semester, after school; Apprentice level). Performances: Form and function; Linking blog pages; Model how email and web page information travels on the Internet; Presenting their blogs, Tapped In Clubhouses, and demonstrations of how the Internet works Unit 3: Redesigning the Web (two weeks during the summer; Apprentice level). Performances: Functionality can be visible or hidden; role of engineering conventions; Draw what the html will do. Unit 4: Design in Networked Technologies (one semester, after school; JourneyGirl level). Performances: Networks have human and technology components; computers can be used as part of networks or on their own. Algorithmic thinking. Handhelds, GroupScribbles Unit 5: Collaborative Game Design & Troubleshooting (one semester, after school; JourneyGirl level). Performances: Object-oriented programming; collaboration; participatory design. Stagecast Creator Unit 6: Joining a Design Team (two weeks during the summer; JourneyGirl level). Performances: Leadership; troubleshooting Unit 1: Girls explored the design process. Unit 2: Girls used and compared design features of Web-based communication tools. Unit 3: Girls designed their own Web pages, which included a chat feature. Unit 4: Girls are exploring the designs of networks and wireless technologies such as blue tooth, infrared beaming, and WiFi. Girls design their own networked activity/game Unit 5: Girls design their own game, with communication features, using Stagecast Unit 6: In teams, girls design web-based space that incorporates technologies they’ve learned.

Year 1 Results Girls are learning design and technology skills but conceptual understanding of design and information technology concepts are not understood by the majority of girls. Made design learning goals more explicit to girls and youth leaders Allocated more time for reflection on these concepts by girls and youth leaders. Girls’ images of IT careers as solitary and boring are changing significantly to collaborative, fun, and intellectually stimulating. Girls expressed more interest in mathematics and computer science courses. Girls Inc. staff have developed greater design and IT knowledge and skills.

Next Design Steps What are best practices in creating curricula for and teaching design skills and concepts? How should we simplify the design process without loosing its complexity? design methodologies, such as participatory and user-centered design?