Research
I am interested in how students learn computer science concepts, especially at the elementary school level.
Below are some of the projects I've worked on.
For more information about my research, check out my
publications.
active projects
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Depict
We investigated different aspects of how students learn computing
concepts in 4th-6th grade. How they use visual block-based
language and development environments to read and create code? What pieces
of knowledge do students need to understand concepts in VBBL's, and how
do those relate to traditional languages? Our goal is to provide the
research basis that will lead to future educational languages, development
environments, and curricula.
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Phase-Change Memories
Phase-change memories bring new trade-offs to computer architecture. We
are studying the ways to take advantage of the density of PCM's while
reducing the downsides such as latency and lifetime.
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artifacts produced
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KELP CS
In order to study how students learn computing concepts in 4th-6th grade,
we created a curriculum called KELP (Kids Enjoying Learning Programming) CS.
This contains two modules - one for 4th grade and one for 5th grade - that
are each approximately 12 weeks long. Curriculum is housed at
octopi.herokuapp.com.
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LaPlaya
A visual block-based language similar to Scratch, with modifications in
the language and development environment to simplify it for a typical
4th grade classroom. Modifications include reducing the math requirements
from 6th grade to 3rd grade level, providing per-project tailoring of
the elements included in the interface (buttons, blocks, tabs, etc.),
and adding a separate "get ready" event to explicitly teach
initialization.
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older projects
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Animal Tlatoque
Investigating how to broaden participation in computing through a
multi-disciplinary summer camp. Over three summers, ran camp for
middle school students that combined meso-american culture, endangered
species, art, storytelling, and computer science.
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Eckhart Hall, Room 119