For more information
Ted Wetherbee, ted@fdl.cc.mn.us
The statistics facing American Indians interested in computer science degrees are daunting. A 1994 National Science Foundation (NSF) report found that only 19 percent of American Indians expected to complete a college degree. A 1996 National Research Council report stated only 0.3 percent of all doctorates went to American Indians. According to Ted Wetherbee, a computer science and mathematics instructor at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC) in Minnesota, underrepresentation is even higher in computer science and math. "We've heard that there might be one American Indian with a Ph.D. in computer science," says Wetherbee, "but we don't know that person."
Exposing American Indian Students to Computing
Two summer camp participants adjust the objects they created in the Lego-Logo program.
In 1994, FDLTCC received a five-year NSF Minority Institution Infrastructure (MII) grant to increase the number of American Indians in the sciences, mathematics, engineering, and computing. The college is jointly a tribal college and a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. As part of the grant, FDLTCC and the FDL Reservation Education Division sponsor an annual "summer bridge" computer camp. This past summer, approximately 100 American Indian students participated in "Lego-Logo." Elise Rieschlo, the FDL High Plains Rural Systemic Initiative (HPRSI) coordinator, helped run the camp.
Based on ideas developed at MIT and implemented at the University of Minnesota (UM), students used the Logo programming language to control objects they created out of Lego building blocks. "The students pick up programming concepts by seeing a reaction instead of a stream of numbers," says Wetherbee, who's the lead on the MII grant. "They really jump in and experiment." Lego-Logo was composed of four separate camps--for students in grades 5-8, grades 8-9, grades 10-12, and one specifically for girls.
The girls' program--a collaborative effort between the camp organizers and the UM NASA program, Cloquet School District, the HPRSI, Al Brook School, the UM Institute of Technology Programs for Women, Hamline University, NSF, and the Potlatch Paper Industry--combined hands-on Lego-Logo computer sessions with field trips to Potlatch's research and development area and with assignments to help understand the science of creating paper. Several teachers from the area received instruction in Logo and worked with Vivian Johnson--who with colleague Susan Marino created the girls' camp program--on curriculum development integrating technology.
"The girls really responded to the Lego-Logo program," says Wetherbee, "They were free to design however they wanted. We discovered that they approached the project differently than did the boys, and the activity format didn't limit their ability to do so."
FDLTCC has also worked with NCSA and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) to collect information on the status of science, engineering, computing, and mathematics programs at the AIHEC schools. Two American Indian undergraduates--Vickie LaFrombois from Salish Kootenai College in Montana, and Stephanie Fox from Red Crow Community College in Alberta, Canada--compiled information that will be made accessible to others through a Web site.
"We're in the process of making a directory for the AIHEC schools now," says Wetherbee. "The site will also provide contacts for students who want information about enrolling in degree programs at these schools. With easier access to information about programs at schools that have traditionally served American Indians, we're hoping more of these students will pursue education in computing."