This paper describes a case study of a program called WATCH: Workshop for Actively Thinking Computationally and Historically. The focus of the program and this paper was on using mobile application development to promote historical thinking using a plantation site visit as the focus of inquiry. WATCH was delivered during an academic enrichment youth program at a major research university in the Southeast and served a total of 30 African American and Latino high school students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Through the theoretical framework of historical thinking, this case study provides descriptions of the class sessions, students’ perceptions of and interests in history and students level of historical thinking through their apps. We make suggestions about how the instructional activities could be adapted for classrooms, discuss the tensions of using technology and inquiry pedagogy to support and promote historical learning, and review the program's impact on students’ agency as learners and critical consumers and producers of historical accounts.
Unlike enrollment in undergraduate computer science degree programs, there are no gender or ethnic imbalances in K-12 enrollment. While such disparities are seen at particular schools, such disparities do not exist in disciplinary courses such as history, math, or science where all students are required to take these courses. This paper discusses an approach to broaden minority participation in computing through the integration of Computer Science (CS) into a history course. This poster proposes an alignment between computational thinking and historical thinking that makes history courses an attractive fit for CS integration. It also presents results from the pilot study of a project-based cross-disciplinary curriculum using MIT App inventor that leverages students' interests in mobile technology to facilitate the creation of historical mobile apps. This curricular approach is built on a theoretical framework rooted in Constructivist and Constructionist learning where students construct and produce knowledge, artifacts, and technology rather than consume them. Our initial results suggest that students were engaged in the material and were enthusiastic about the creation of their mobile app.
Abstract. This research paper presents the findings of a research project that investigated how young adult interpersonal communications have changed since using social media. Specifically, the research focused on determining if using social media had a beneficial or an adverse effect on the development of interaction and communication skills of young adults. Results from interviews reveal a negative impact in young adult communications and social skills. In this paper young adult preferences in social media are also explored, to answer the question: Does social media usage affect the development of interaction and communication skills for young adults and set a basis for future adult communication behaviors?
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