LEARN: Visualizing Unequal Access to Computer Science Education in Massachusetts

Alina Chiu, Kreena Totala, Julia Favis

Course Project as part of DS4200 S22: Information Visualization, taught by Prof. Ab Mosca, Data Visualization @ Khoury, Northeastern University.

Abstract

Jobs in technology are appearing faster than any other fields and paying much more. Yet, unequal access to computer science education in Massachusetts public high schools remains an issue. Despite access to national educational datasets and school-by-school course offerings, determining which schools teach computer science and the demographics of students taking these courses is arduous without proper tools. We propose a visualization tool, LEARN, for educators and members of Northeastern University’s club, FirstByte, who hope to identify public schools in Massachusetts that do not teach computer science or do not provide equal access to computer science education. Our approach would allow users to easily view and understand the levels of accessibility to Computer Science courses in different public schools. Insights derived from our visualization are aimed at determining which schools need the most support to start teaching computer science.

Visualization

Demo Video

Visualization Explanation

LEARN’s intended use is to allow individuals to easily determine which schools in Massachusetts do/do not offer computer science education, to identify underrepresented communities in the Massachusetts schools, and to be able to compare a school's demographics to other schools in their county. To use the visualization, a user can highlight over different points on the left point map. Each point links to the corresponding county on the right map by highlighting it in blue. Additionally, each point has a tooltip on hover that shows the school's name, county, if it offers CS education, and what type of school it is. If the user hovers over a county on the right map, they will be able to see the county name associated with it. On the second tab, the user can look at the data on a table by highlighting each row and can filter with a search bar by school name.
Link to the Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NcL_KKEx-8fUefq7DAZ5ueQi9D_UbX-OUBBUt-nXpic/edit?usp=sharing

Research Paper

Acknowledgments