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UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title HipHopathy, A Socio-Curricular Study of Introductory Computer Science Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5b5664z3 Author Miller, Omoju Adesola Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California HipHopathy, A Socio-Curricular Study of Introductory Computer Science by Omoju Adesola Miller A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Science and Mathematics Education in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Alice A. Agogino, Chair Professor Bernard R. Gifford Teaching Professor Dan D. Garcia Fall 2015 HipHopathy, A Socio-Curricular Study of Introductory Computer Science Copyright 2015 by Omoju Adesola Miller 1 Abstract HipHopathy, A Socio-Curricular Study of Introductory Computer Science by Omoju Adesola Miller Doctor of Philosophy in Science and Mathematics Education University of California, Berkeley Professor Alice A. Agogino, Chair This work presents a study investigating social and curricular factors that lead to student retention and attrition in introductory Computer Science at UC Berkeley. CS10 and CS61A are identified as critical gateway classes in the curricula pipeline. To address the impedance match between the performance of CS10 students in CS61A, a new curricula Data Science unit, with a culturally-relevant learning experience, has been created for CS10. Prelimi- nary results show agreement with theoretical predictions and significant improvement over previous efforts. The central argument of this work is the belief that historically under- represented students in Computer Science increase their affinity for and ability to persist in Computer Science classes when they feel like what they are learning has some relevance outside the Computer Science classroom. This work introduces a learning framework for the computational exploration of data, within the context of an introductory Computer Science class. The work presented here has profound implications for future studies of how culturally resonant curriculum may one day help solve the problem of low-representation of female and ethnic minority students in the field of Computer Science. i To Oluwaroju ii Contents Contents ii List of Figuresv List of Tables vii 1 Introduction1 1.1 The Challenge................................... 1 1.2 Proposed Solution................................. 8 1.3 Theoretical Rationale............................... 10 1.4 Theoretical Framework.............................. 11 Socio-Cultural Perspective............................ 13 1.5 Research Context................................. 14 1.6 Research Framing................................. 15 2 Related Work 17 2.1 Computational Thinking............................. 18 Exploring Computational Thinking....................... 19 Computational Thinking: a 1980s Redux.................... 22 2.2 Understanding Barriers to Learning....................... 23 Stereotype Threat................................. 24 The Treisman Approach ............................. 26 Ethno-Computing: A Curricular Response to Stereotype Threat . 27 2.3 Misconceptions Pertaining to Computer Science................ 32 Writing Women and Ethnic Minorities out of CS History........... 33 The Myth of Innate Ability ........................... 37 2.4 Still Waiting for Superman. .......................... 39 3 Research Methods 42 3.1 Formative and Mixed-Method Research..................... 42 3.2 Data Collection.................................. 43 Formative Research: Blocks to Text Prototype Workshops .......... 43 iii Quantitative Research: Surveys Instruments.................. 45 Qualitative Research: Interviews......................... 46 3.3 Location and Context............................... 47 Class Context................................... 47 3.4 Participants.................................... 47 Participant Recruitment ............................. 48 4 Design of an Inclusive CS0 Course 51 4.1 The Beauty and Joy of Computing - CS10................... 51 Intro CS Track, UC Berkeley........................... 52 4.2 BYOB to Snap! .................................. 59 The Challenge of Graphical Languages..................... 61 4.3 Social Implications of Computing........................ 63 The Biography of an Idea: Black Criminality.................. 65 The Importance of Social Implications of Computing ............. 66 5 Design of Hip-Hop Data Module 67 5.1 Computer Science as Scientific Inquiry ..................... 68 How Do We Know What We Know? ...................... 69 Why Do We Believe What We Know?...................... 70 What Exactly Do We Know? .......................... 71 5.2 Building a Hip-Hop Data Module........................ 72 Hip-Hop Data Module: Exploration and Play ................. 72 Hip-Hop Data Module: Hypothesis ....................... 73 Hip-Hop Data Module: Design Constraints................... 74 Hip-Hop Data Module: Curriculum....................... 75 Discussion of Data Module: Empathy...................... 78 Discussion of Data Module: Cultural Resonance................ 78 6 Findings 79 6.1 Quantitative Data Analysis ........................... 79 6.2 Findings...................................... 85 On the Role of Mentorship............................ 85 On the Role of Family in CS Choice....................... 88 On Gendered Ideas of Intelligence........................ 91 On Social Implications of Computing...................... 95 On Belonging................................... 98 On Computer Science Efficacy.......................... 104 On Programming................................. 111 The Impact of Data Module........................... 119 6.3 Qualitative Data Analysis ............................ 121 Outsider Experience ............................... 126 iv Role of Family in CS Choice........................... 127 Efficacy ...................................... 128 Belonging ..................................... 128 6.4 Triangulation ................................... 129 7 Discussion 130 7.1 Discussion..................................... 130 Research Question R1.) ............................. 130 Research Question R2.) ............................. 136 Research Question R3.) ............................. 141 Research Question R4.) ............................. 143 7.2 Conclusion..................................... 152 7.3 Recommendation................................. 153 Broadening Participation with a Focus on Inclusion . 153 CS Strength is its Weakness........................... 153 Integration Instead of Assimilation ....................... 154 No CS Ghettos!.................................. 154 Recreate Engineering Culture: Boot-Camps .................. 155 7.4 Summary ..................................... 156 Appendix A Hiphopathy Lab 158 A.1 Introduction to Data Science using Hip-Hop Lyrics . 158 A.2 The Natural Language ToolKit ......................... 159 A.3 Literary Corpus.................................. 162 A.4 Frequency Analysis................................ 163 Exercise...................................... 164 A.5 Text Analysis for Meaningful Insights...................... 165 Reflection ..................................... 167 Appendix B Technical Implementation of Data Analysis 169 B.1 Survey Data.................................... 169 Acquire data ................................... 169 Reformat and clean data............................. 169 Create analysis scripts .............................. 170 B.2 Interview Data .................................. 171 Appendix C Informed Consent Form 176 Appendix D Interview Protocol 179 Appendix E Survey Instruments 183 Bibliography 186 v List of Figures 1.1 High School Advanced Placement Exams, 2011. (ACM, 2012).......... 3 1.2 High School Advanced Placement Exams by Gender, 2011. (ACM, 2012).... 3 1.3 Female Percentage of Select STEM Undergraduate Degree Recipients...... 5 1.4 Top 10 Average SAT Mathematics Scores by Intended Major........... 5 1.5 United States Census by Gender and Race, 2010.................. 7 1.6 Undergraduate CS Degree Earned, 1991-2010 ................... 8 1.7 Ethnicity Distribution of Undergraduates at UC Berkeley, Fall 2004 - Fall 2014. (UC Berkeley Office of Planning & Analysis, 2015) ................ 9 2.1 Aerial image of Logone Birni, Cameroon, (Eglash, 1999).............. 29 2.2 Fractal model of the palace constructed by Eglash, (Eglash, 1999). 29 2.3 First three iterations of the fractal model, (Eglash, 1999).............. 29 2.4 Path to the throne room in the palace, (Eglash, 1999). .............. 30 2.5 The original Macintosh team in the 1980s ..................... 35 2.6 Katherine Johnson, NASA Computer Scientist (Makers Profile, 2015). 35 4.1 Alonzo, the mascot of CS10.............................. 53 4.2 The BJC Logo..................................... 53 4.3 The Tweet that Landed CS10 on the Front Page of the San Francisco Chronicle. 59 4.4 The Snap! programming environment........................ 60 4.5 Snap! Script, and Result of Snap! Script. ..................... 61 4.6 The LOGO programming environment........................ 62 4.7 Text Based programming in the browser...................... 63 5.1 Data Science WorkFlow diagram by (Guo, 2013).................. 76 6.1 Students' Responses with Regards to Mentorship.................. 85 6.2 Students' Responses with Regards to Mentorship.................
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