Global Service

DevTech and FIRST Robotics

DevTech Research Group, Boston College 2023

The syntax may differ, but the essence remains rooted in human communication—can coding, then, be taught like a foreign language?

Enter ScratchJr: my favorite childhood iPad app, where I snapped together coding blocks to program hopping frogs, dancing bears, hopping frogs on dancing bears—but confoundingly, I never “learned” ScratchJr like I learned French in school.

More information about the DevTech Research Group is available at https://sites.bc.edu/devtech/.

In the spring of 2023, I contacted ScratchJr’s creators: the DevTech Research Group, a Boston College human-computer interaction (HCI) lab researching how kids can learn coding as another language—as an avid language learner myself, this excited me. Last summer, I interned with DevTech as an HCI research intern. In the mornings, I’d be in our lab on the second floor of Carney Hall, teaching ScratchJr block code to thirty preschoolers. In the evenings, you could find me in the conference room, presenting data regressions at weekly stand-up meetings with Professor Marina Bers and my postdoctoral colleagues.

Behind this innovative approach to CS pedagogy was our team: individuals from diverse backgrounds, unified in a concerted effort to advance CS education.

Engineered solutions aren’t always physical: with larger-scale societal issues—like widespread deficient CS education—we need to engineer society itself. Programming hopping frogs on dancing bears—and helping others do the same—is only the first step.

FIRST Robotics 2021-2024

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international organization dedicated to bringing engineering, robotics, and STEM in general to youth across the world in the form of competitions and programs. Each year, the Andover Robotics Club hosts robotics competitions at Andover High School, and I help with many aspects of the event, including planning, setup, technical assistance, and more.

My work with DevTech and FIRST correlates largely with SDG 4: the United Nations' goal for quality education. Both DevTech and FIRST share similar missions: making STEM education more accessible and equitable for all.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse