{"662434":{"#nid":"662434","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech and the University of Puerto  Rico researchers collaborate to broaden  participation of Latinx students in computing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the R\u0026iacute;o Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) are hoping to increase representation of Latinx and Spanish-speaking middle and high school students in computer science fields through an innovative informal learning curriculum, using \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/earsketch.gatech.edu\/landing\/#\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EEarSketch\u003C\/a\u003E, a web-based, digital audio workstation developed at Georgia Tech in 2011. Culturally relevant educational practices are embedded within the computer science content to broaden access to and engagement in STEM learning.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research project, called \u0026ldquo;Collaborative Research Broadening Participation of Latinx Students in Computer Science by Integrating Culturally Relevant Computational Music Practices,\u0026rdquo; is part of a $2.9 million National Science Foundation grant the two institutions received in 2020 for the four-year study that takes place simultaneously in Georgia and Puerto Rico schools. The project (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2005791\u0022\u003EAward #2005791\u003C\/a\u003E) is dubbed \u0026ldquo;REMEZCLA\u0026rdquo; by project members, which means remix in Spanish.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team is being led by principal investigators Diley Hern\u0026aacute;ndez, associate vice president for \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/diversity.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EInstitute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion\u003C\/a\u003E at Tech, and Rafael Arce-Nazario, computer science professor at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.uprrp.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EUPR\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;One of the most important innovations of our project was to take a highly successful learning platform, EarSketch, and make it more linguistically accessible to Spanish-speaking students and teachers,\u0026rdquo; explained Hern\u0026aacute;ndez. \u0026ldquo;In this way, we are creating opportunities for them to explore within EarSketch a variety of music genres that are relevant to them and their local communities.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMusical artists in Georgia and Puerto Rico created the sounds and beats for EarSketch that included traditional and contemporary Latin genres rich in social, historical, and cultural contexts that the students can use in their individual remixes, while gaining coding and computational thinking skills\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Almost none of the K-12 schools in Puerto Rico include computation skills in their courses. Thus, the activities organized by our project are the first and possibly only explicit computer science experiences that some of the participants will have during K-12,\u0026rdquo; said Arce-Nazario. \u0026ldquo;We believe that by providing these experiences framed into cultural and musical activities, our project will positively inspire and empower students who could otherwise show little interest in traditional computer science-related courses.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the past two years, the curriculum has been implemented as one-week camps offered twice during the summer and as afterschool programs during the academic year at both research sites.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESurveys, focus groups, and interviews are among the methods used to determine student engagement differences in music composition skills and computational practices as well as the role EarSketch plays in that dynamic. The researchers are also studying the degree to which cultural engagement impacts participants\u0026rsquo; educational outcomes such as sense of belonging, content knowledge, and computer science identity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team also includes Tech co-principal investigators Douglas Edwards, senior research associate with the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ceismc.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECenter for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing\u003C\/a\u003E, and Jason Freeman, EarSketch co-creator and chair of the School of Music, and University of Puerto Rico co-principal investigator Joseph Carroll Miranda, assistant professor in the School of Education.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETeam members collaborate closely with Tom McKlin and other members of The Findings Group for the purpose of research and evaluation. Jayma Koval, Stephen Garrett, Michael Turner and Jyoti Kaneria from Tech and Lilliana Marrero Sol\u0026iacute;s, Isaris Qui\u0026ntilde;ones P\u0026eacute;rez, and Pascua Padr\u0026oacute; Collazo from UPR round out the group.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u0026mdash;Jo\u0026euml;lle Walls, CEISMC Communications\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe research project, called \u0026ldquo;Collaborative Research Broadening Participation of Latinx Students in Computer Science by Integrating Culturally Relevant Computational Music Practices,\u0026rdquo; is part of a $2.9 million National Science Foundation grant the two institutions received in 2020 for the four-year study that takes place simultaneously in Georgia and Puerto Rico schools.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are hoping to increase representation in computer science fields through an innovative informal learning curriculum using EarSketch."}],"uid":"36247","created_gmt":"2022-10-21 19:26:17","changed_gmt":"2022-10-24 14:09:38","author":"jwalls37","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-10-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-10-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"662477":{"id":"662477","type":"image","title":"The REMEZCLA project is a collaborative research effort between Georgia Tech and the University of Puerto Rico, R\u00edo Piedras.","body":null,"created":"1666618677","gmt_created":"2022-10-24 13:37:57","changed":"1666618677","gmt_changed":"2022-10-24 13:37:57","alt":"The REMEZCLA project is a collaborative research effort between Georgia Tech and the University of Puerto Rico, R\u00edo Piedras.","file":{"fid":"250866","name":"Final Remezcla Logo.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Final%20Remezcla%20Logo.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Final%20Remezcla%20Logo.png","mime":"image\/png","size":186650,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Final%20Remezcla%20Logo.png?itok=YmM2mecN"}},"662470":{"id":"662470","type":"image","title":"Middle and high school students in Georgia and Puerto Rico are learning about the computer science field through an innovative informal learning curriculum using EarSketch.","body":null,"created":"1666613725","gmt_created":"2022-10-24 12:15:25","changed":"1666615397","gmt_changed":"2022-10-24 12:43:17","alt":"Middle and high school students in Georgia and Puerto Rico are learning about the computer science field through an innovative informal learning curriculum using EarSketch.","file":{"fid":"250863","name":"2022-Remezcla-summer-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022-Remezcla-summer-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022-Remezcla-summer-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":326700,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022-Remezcla-summer-2.jpg?itok=QeWHFyCu"}},"662471":{"id":"662471","type":"image","title":"CEISMC Research Associate Jayma Koval assists a high school student during REMEZCLA summer camp.","body":null,"created":"1666614402","gmt_created":"2022-10-24 12:26:42","changed":"1666615373","gmt_changed":"2022-10-24 12:42:53","alt":"CEISMC Research Associate Jayma Koval assists a high school student during REMEZCLA summer camp.","file":{"fid":"250864","name":"2022-Remezcla-summer-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022-Remezcla-summer-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022-Remezcla-summer-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":371404,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022-Remezcla-summer-1.jpg?itok=rkaESvEf"}}},"media_ids":["662477","662477","662470","662471"],"groups":[{"id":"361651","name":"Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC)"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"148","name":"Music and Music Technology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14468","name":"EarSketch"},{"id":"173672","name":"code"},{"id":"1051","name":"Computer Science"},{"id":"411","name":"CEISMC"},{"id":"167096","name":"school of music"},{"id":"46351","name":"K-12 education"},{"id":"185689","name":"REMEZCLA"},{"id":"2852","name":"latino"},{"id":"181010","name":"School of Literature Media and Communications"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJo\u0026euml;lle Walls, CEISMC Communications\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEmail: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:joelle.walls@ceismc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejoelle.walls@ceismc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["joelle.walls@ceismc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}