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1. “Design for Co-Design” in a Computer Science Curriculum Research-Practice Partnership

   Victor R. Lee Jody Clarke-Midura Jessica Shumway Mimi Recker (July 2022, Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2022)

   Clark Chinn Edna Tan Carol Chan Yael Kali (Ed.)

   This paper reports on a study of the dynamics of a Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) oriented around design, specifically the co-design model. The RPP is focused on supporting elementary school computer science (CS) instruction by involving paraprofessional educators and teachers in curricular co-design. A problem of practice addressed is that few elementary educators have backgrounds in teaching CS and have limited available instructional time and budget for CS. The co-design strategy entailed highlighting CS concepts in the mathematics curriculum during classroom instruction and designing computer lab lessons that explored related ideas through programming. Analyses focused on tensions within RPP interaction dynamics and how they were accommodated when RPP partners were designing for co-design activities, a critical component that leads to curricular co-design itself. We illustrate these tensions with examples of clusters of activity that appeared repeatedly among the research and practice team members when" designing for co-design". 

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2. Exploring Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions of Data Science and Curriculum Design through Professional Development

   Herro, D. (October 2022, Journal of technology and teacher education)

   Hartshorne, Richard (Ed.)

   Data science and computational thinking (CT) skills are important STEM literacies necessary to make informed daily decisions. In elementary schools, particularly in rural areas, there is little instruction and limited research towards understanding and developing these literacies. Using a Research-Practice Partnership model (RPP; Coburn & Penuel, 2016) we conducted multimethod research investigating nine elementary teachers’ perceptions of data science and related curriculum design during professional development (PD). Connected Learning theory, enhanced with Universal Design for Learning, guided ways we assisted teachers in designing the data science curriculum. Findings suggest teachers maintained high levels of interest in data science instruction and CT before and after the PD and increased their self-efficacy towards teaching data science. A thematic analysis revealed how a data science framework guided curriculum design and assisted teachers in defining, understanding, and co-creating the curriculum. During curriculum design, teachers shared the workload among partners, made collaborative design choices, integrated differentiation strategies, and felt confidence towards teaching data science. Identified challenges included locating data sets and the complexity of understanding data science and related software. This study addresses the research gap in data science education for elementary teachers and assists with successful strategies for data science PD and curricular design. 

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3. Developing Culturally Sustaining Elementary Computer Science Education with Indigenous Communities: Lessons Learned through a Research-Practice Partnership

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3626252.3630827  

   Rich, Kathryn M; Spang, Marissa; Bowdon, Jill; Wilson, Joseph P; Cunningham, Heather; Perkins, McKay (March 2024, ACM)

   The Wind River Elementary Computer Science (WRECS) Collaborative is a research-practice partnership (RPP) among three school districts serving Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho communities on the Wind River Reservation, the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE), BootUp Professional Development (BootUp PD), and the American Institutes for Research (AIR). The purpose of the WRECS Collaborative is to develop culturally sustaining elementary computer science (CS) education through integration of CS and Indigenous studies. The Collaborative engaged three cohorts of elementary educators in cycles of professional development, classroom implementation, and group reflection over the 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 school years. In this experience report, we share a set of reflections and lessons learned as the RPP developed relationships and worked through intersecting priorities, instructional goals, and ways of knowing and learning present within the RPP. 

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4. Making Research Practice Partnerships Work: An Assessment of The Maker Partnership

   https://doi.org/10.1109/RESPECT51740.2021.9620713  

   Fancsali, Cheri; Klevan, Sarah; Mirakhur, Zitsi (April 2021, Annual Conference on Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT))

   Strong, equitable research practice partnerships (RPPs) center both researcher and practitioner perspectives and priorities. These RPPs facilitate rigorous, relevant research that practitioners can use to improve program implementation. Our project, The Maker Partnership, is an RPP focused on building knowledge about how to help elementary level teachers integrate computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) into their regular science classes using maker pedagogy. In this experience report, we use the Henrich et al. framework to assess the Maker Partnership’s effectiveness along five dimensions and share practical advice and lessons learned. This paper contributes to the CS and RPP literature by providing insight into how an RPP can address critical problems of practice in computer science education. 

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5. Growing Knowledge about Using Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Universal Design for Learning in Computer Science Education

   https://doi.org/10.1109/RESPECT60069.2023.00013  

   Century, Jeanne; Weisberg, Lauren (June 2023, IEEE)

   Practitioners are introducing culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into computer science (CS) education in increasing amounts. Researchers, however, may be missing a vital opportunity to accumulate knowledge about these important equity-focused practices. CRP and UDL are complex, and researchers are likely measuring them in incompatible ways. Our research-practice partnership (RPP), through a project called "Time4CSforALL," is tackling this challenge by using a component-based research approach with clearly specified language to study and communicate about CRP and UDL in elementary computer science education. This session will focus on effectively communicating and growing knowledge about CRP and UDL, particularly in today's cultural climate. 

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