Expanding Pathways in Computing (EPIC)

Research
 

EPIC supports several research projects related to broadening participation in CS education.

Projects

ECEP (Expanding Computing Education Pathways)

ECEP is a collective impact alliance of 22 states and the territory of Puerto Rico. The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports ECEP through its Broadening Participation in Computing Alliance (BPC-A) program. The ECEP Alliance seeks to increase the number and diversity of students in the pipeline to computing and computing-intensive degrees by supporting state-level computing education reforms. Through interventions, pathways, partnerships and models that drive state-level computing education change, ECEP supports states as they work to align their state efforts with the national vision for computer science for all. The University of Texas at Austin serves as the backbone organizer for ECEP.

Team
  • Carol Fletcher, PI
  • Anne Leftwich and Maureen Biggers, Co-PIs, Indiana University
  • Debra Richardson, Co-PI, University of California, Irvine
  • Leigh Ann DeLyser, Co-PI, CSforAll
  • John Goodhue, Co-PI, Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center
  • Sarah Dunton, Alliance Director, Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center

AWSM in CS

Accelerating Women's Success and Mastery in Computer Science (AWSM in CS) is an NSF funded Research Practitioner Partnership. AWSM in CS supports a Networked Improvement Community of 20+ secondary computing teachers all focused on increasing access and participation of young women in computing courses. This project seeks to apply the tools of improvement science to support teacher-led plan, do, study, act (PDSA) cycles that address this challenge and measure impact on females and particularly females of color.

Team
  • Carol Fletcher, PI
  • Joshua Childs, Co-PI, UT Austin College of Education, Educational Leadership
  • Ryan Torbey, GRA

Project ROCS (Rural Opportunities in Computer Science)

Project ROCS aims to produce a framework for collecting and reporting outcome measures that accurately portray the nature and extent of access to and participation in K-12 computer science education, especially for students in rural communities. This research project is funded by Google.

The CAPE Framework was developed as a result of Project ROCS. The purpose of this framework is to help education leaders, policy makers, and researchers assess equity in CS education at multiple levels of the educational system. The framework addresses four key components of CS education: Capacity for, Access to, Participation in, and Experience of CS education (CAPE).

Fletcher, C.L. and Warner, J. R., (2019). Summary of the CAPE Framework for Assessing Equity in Computer Science Education. Retrieved from https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/epic/research.

Team
  • Carol Fletcher, PI
  • Jayce Warner, Co-PI
  • Lisa Garbrecht, Co-PI
  • Ryan Torbey, GRA
CAPE Framework

Examples of equity to assess:

Experience of CS Education
Student outcomes
  • How does the quality of instruction differ across subgroups of students?
  • How does this affect learning?
Participation in CS Education
Student enrollment
  • Which subgroups are underrepresented in CS courses?
  • To what extent?
Access to CS Education
Course offerings
  • Are CS courses offered in low-income schools at similar rates to other schools?
Capactiy for CS Education
Teachers, funding, policies
  • Do districts in all areas have the resources to train and certify teachers?

Resources

Computer Science Regional Data

The Computer Science Regional Data reports were created to help educational service centers (ESC's), school districts, and anyone interested in the progress of computer science education in Texas to better understand the data we have collected. You may download these pdf's to share/distribute.

Browse Computer Science Regional Data reports

EPIC