CRII: CNS: RUI: Developing Computational Skills in Non-Computing Professionals using an Informal Learning Approach

Macalester College will leverage libraries as inviting and inclusive spaces to deliver informal learning opportunities for workforce professionals in the Twin Cities area. Understanding non-computing adults in the workforce presents many opportunities to design and develop informal learning programs that differ from K-12 programs.. The PI and her team will harness the diversity of the region, its unique geographic location, as well as Macalester College’s liberal arts setting, to host workshops for diverse workforce professionals to learn Computing skills through programming activities. Participants will engage in weekly workshop sessions that culminate in an artifact with the goal of expanding their interests in Computing beyond this initial exploration. This project will contribute to the goal of increasing the Computing workforce from a different part of the pipeline through a lifelong learning perspective. During the project, the project will also contribute by sharing open-source materials from the workshops, building community, and mentor emerging scholars from diverse backgrounds. Following a design-based research approach, this project will develop an informal learning workshop series that centers Computing skills for diverse workforce professionals in the Twin Cities. The research objectives include: (a) identifying the needs of non-computing professionals in the Twin Cities area and utilize the Macalester College Library to create informal learning spaces; (b) design, develop, and implement two instances of an informal learning workshop experience; (c) evaluating the impacts using our initial psychological construct as well as behavioral indicators of skill gains; (d) deploying a large scale survey study to refine the psychometric properties of instrument. Through empirical investigations in the workshop spaces, this project will contribute to computing education research by creating models for design of informal learning programs for older adults and explore the needs of this less studied population. Empirical investigations will take place in libraries where the workshops will be hosted during the academic year with a diverse group of workforce professionals. Classroom observations, surveys, interviews, and project artifacts will be collected to investigate how workshop participants engaged in the workshop and came about skill gains. More importantly, a longitudinal approach will revisit their Computing journeys to better understand their computational pursuits after the workshops. This project will lead to three major research outcomes: (a) a conceptual model that seeks to unpack this understudied population in the context of the broader Computing pipeline; (b) the refinement and validation of a psychological construct that aims to measure one’s acclimation or orientation toward more computationally-sophisticated pursuits through the implementation of the workshops; and (c) design recommendations for practitioners looking to implement these specific programs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.