{"70785":{"#nid":"70785","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Wins $2 Million in NSF Grants to Improve Computer Science Education","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology has been awarded two highly\nselective National Science Foundation (NSF) grants totaling $2 million. The\nawards, designated for the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and the College\nof Computing, will fund two projects intended to transform how students learn\ncomputer science in American high schools.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mHX0ozotK1o\u0022\u003EEarSketch\u003C\/a\u003E,\na project in Ivan Allen College, is designed to encourage Atlanta\u2019s\nAfrican-American high schoolers to study computer science. The program will\nallow students to remix hip hop music by writing computer code. EarSketch is\nbased on research by Georgia Tech that shows the relationship between gaming\nand an eventual interest in computer science is not as strong as may have been\npreviously assumed, especially for minorities. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTraditional approaches to teaching computer science are\ndismal in engaging non-white male students, and the numbers for\nAfrican-American males are relatively low compared to other ethnic groups,\u201d\nsaid Brian Magerko, assistant professor of digital media in the IAC School of\nLiterature, Communication and Culture. Magerko, the principal investigator on\nthe project, is working with co-investigator Jason Freeman, an assistant\nprofessor in the School of Music in the College of Architecture.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe believe that by leveraging the collaborative nature of remix\ncomposition and musically oriented computer programming, EarSketch may provide\na successful alternative to the cultural issues that computer games have in the\nengagement of minorities,\u201d said Magerko. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EEarSketch will teach students how to use a digital audio\nworkstation and to control musical loops and beats by writing small bits of\nprogramming code. The project\u0026nbsp;involves\ncollaboration with Mike Reilly from Lanier High School, where the software and\ncurriculum will be piloted in 2014. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe College of Computing\u2019s $1 million grant will be used to\naddress a different issue: a significant shortage of high school computer\nscience teachers in the United States. According to the College Board, there\nare only 2,000 computer science teachers at the Advanced Placement (AP) level\namong the nation\u2019s 25,000 high schools. NSF has a goal of having 10,000 high\nschool computer science teachers in 10,000 U.S. schools by the year 2015. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EMark Guzdial, a professor in the college\u2019s School of\nInteractive Computing, and Barbara Ericson, director of Computing Outreach,\nwill oversee a three-year project that will investigate better ways to train\ncomputing teachers. Guzdial and Ericson are focused on creating new online\nmedia, allowing teachers to learn at their own pace rather than using a remote\nclassroom model. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The biggest challenge is learning computer science from a\ndistance,\u0022 said Guzdial. \u0022Most training tools currently used\u2014such as\nonline classes that require teachers to program code on their own with little\nor no help\u2014are ineffective. It\u0027s too hard for them. We\u0027re trying to find a\nmiddle ground that will work with measurable learning and helping teachers\nsucceed.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EFor more information on the initiative, click \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/home.cc.gatech.edu\/csl\/csLearning4U\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBoth projects are part of the NSF\u2019s Computing Ed for 21\u003Csup\u003Est\u003C\/sup\u003E\nCentury program, which aims to increase the number of students who plan to\nmajor in computing. According to the NSF, interest among college freshmen has\ndeclined overall by 70 percent in the last decade. \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Highly Selective Grants Will Assist Nation\u2019s High Schools"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has been awarded two highly\nselective National Science Foundation grants totaling $2 million. The\nawards, designated for the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and the College\nof Computing, will fund two projects intended to change how high school students and teachers learn\ncomputer science. \u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The grants will fund projects intended to transform high school computer science education."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2011-10-03 08:48:29","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:22","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-10-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-10-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"65383":{"id":"65383","type":"image","title":"Mark Guzdial \u0026 Barb Ericson","body":null,"created":"1449176831","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:07:11","changed":"1475894577","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:57","alt":"Mark Guzdial \u0026 Barb Ericson","file":{"fid":"192229","name":"DSC_0156.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC_0156_0.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC_0156_0.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3160201,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/DSC_0156_0.JPG?itok=hat77An-"}},"70812":{"id":"70812","type":"image","title":"Brian Magerko","body":null,"created":"1449177314","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:14","changed":"1475894602","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:22","alt":"Brian Magerko","file":{"fid":"192694","name":"brian_magerko.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/brian_magerko_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/brian_magerko_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1420295,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/brian_magerko_1.jpg?itok=A8jo8VUu"}},"63089":{"id":"63089","type":"image","title":"Jason Freeman","body":null,"created":"1449176649","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:04:09","changed":"1475894552","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:32","alt":"Jason Freeman","file":{"fid":"191727","name":"Jason_Freeman_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Jason_Freeman_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Jason_Freeman_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2957894,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Jason_Freeman_0_0.jpg?itok=e7j3OWRp"}}},"media_ids":["65383","70812","63089"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mHX0ozotK1o","title":"EarSketch Prototype Demonstration"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.eurekalert.org\/pub_releases\/2011-04\/giot-gtf040611.php","title":"Prior Award for Guzdial and Ericson"},{"url":"http:\/\/home.cc.gatech.edu\/csl\/csLearning4U","title":"CSLearning4U"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10665","name":"barbara ericson"},{"id":"14469","name":"Brian Magerko"},{"id":"926","name":"College of Architecture"},{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"11435","name":"Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College"},{"id":"1346","name":"Jason Freeman"},{"id":"10469","name":"Mark Guzdial"},{"id":"362","name":"National Science Foundation"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer, Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jason.maderer@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}