Identity-Centered User-Generated Content to Create Occupational Identity with Visual Computing.

This talk reports on an approach to computer science education for pre- and early-adolescents in which the goal is the formation of occupational identity with visual computing developed collaboratively between a large game studio, a research-intensive university, and a historically black college/university (HBCU). This ongoing project takes place in a rural public-school setting in the United States. Our project is structured around the idea that identity-centered user-content creation projects can positively influence student self-professed performance and interest in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) related subjects and interest in STEAM careers. The projects in our curriculum engage students in real-time 3DCG coding and asset creation activities commonly associated with game development. We describe the process of working with school administrators and teachers to create a technology-infused environment in which remote external partners play a collaborative role in curriculum development and delivery. This work has significance for efforts to remotely engage with rural students at an age when occupational identity development is forming and thus develop a potential to expand the pathway for underrepresented minorities.