An official website of the United States government
Who makes decisions about what K-12 computer science education(CSed) should look like? While equitable participation is a central focus of K-12 CSed, the field has largely thought about equity through the lens of providing access to inclusive and robust CS learning. But issues of who has a "seat at the table" in determining the shape of those experiences, and the larger field that structures them, have been largely under-explored. This panel session argues that equitable CSed must take into account questions of participation in decision-making about CSed, with such issues of power themselves a key dimension of equity in any education effort. We highlight efforts engaging stakeholders from across the education landscape-parents, educators, community members, administrators, and students-exploring how decision-making is structured, how voices that are usually marginalized might be elevated, the tensions involved in these processes, and the relationships between participation and equity.
more »
« less
Examining the Realities and Nuances of 'Low-stakes' Interest-Driven Learning Environments
The push to develop low-stakes and personally meaningful computer science experiences is creating novel opportunities to broaden participation in CS. These opportunities have become increasingly present across contexts and have pushed the boundaries on ways for introducing and sustaining student participation in computing. However, while these experiences tend to be effective ways for engaging new participants and new forms of participation, we must be careful to not overlook how 'high-stakes' these experiences might be for learners. To explore this tension, this paper describes two case studies of students engaging in coding and computational thinking with Minecraft Education Edition. The first case study involves a 7-year-old Black and Latina girl who experiences significant frustration when her computer program destroys significant portions of her project. The second is from a Latino boy who avoids using the coding capabilities in Minecraft EDU out of fear that the code might not work properly. Building on these case studies, this paper suggests that the field take steps to ensure that the language and actions associated with low-stakes and high-stakes are reflective of learner perceptions, and that we design learning experiences that appropriately reflect this nuance.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1822865
- PAR ID:
- 10392969
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2022 Conference on Research in Equitable and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT)
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Spatial reasoning is an important skillset that is malleable to training interventions. One possible context for intervention is the popular video game Minecraft. Minecraft encourages users to engage in spatial manipulation of 3D objects. However, few papers have chronicled any in-game practices that might evidence spatial reasoning, or how we might study its development through the game. In this paper, we report on 11 middle school students’ spatial reasoning practices while playing Minecraft. We use audio and video data of student gameplay to delineate five in-game practices that align with spatial reasoning. We expand on a student case study, to explicate these practices. The identified practices may be beneficial for studying spatial reasoning development in game-based environments and contribute to a growing body of research on ways games support development of important and transferable skills.more » « less
-
Abstract Despite a growing movement towards expanding computer science education in PreK‐12, gaps in computing opportunities along lines of race, ethnicity, class, and gender have widened. Emergent theories and practices related to culturally responsive computing show promise in addressing this gap; however, little is known about engaging Black, Latinx, and Indigenous preschoolers in computer science. In this paper, we utilized qualitative content analyses to explore how an early childhood computer science curriculum created opportunities for young Black and Latinx preschoolers to develop computational thinking skills while engaging in culturally responsive computing. Overwhelmingly, we found the curriculum, co‐developed with educators and caregivers, emphasized unplugged tools and coding activities to support computational thinking. These unplugged opportunities positioned children as innovators with technology and technosocial change agents, in developmentally‐appropriate, play‐based ways. Findings demonstrate a need to emphasize the value of unplugged tools and coding activities in order to support computational thinking and align the goals of culturally responsive computing with the unique needs of young children. We discuss implications for a theory of culturally responsive computing specifically for early childhood education.more » « less
-
Around the world, many K-12 school systems are seeking ways to provide youth with computer science (CS) learning experiences. Often organizations aim to develop these opportunities by building capacity among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics teachers. In other instances, school may engage with language arts, history, and library teachers to teach computer science content. Seldom, however, do schools leverage the rich opportunities for integrating computer science with physical education (PE). This paper explores an on-going partnership among university researchers, and elementary school coding and PE teachers. During spring of 2021, the group designed and tested coding and physical movement related activities for students to complete across their PE and coding classes. The team iterated on those activities throughout 2021 and 2022. This paper highlights the utility of this unique collaboration and describes some of the initial designs that emerged. The paper also touches on preliminary evaluation of the activities, and notes some of the project team's plans for future iterations. Broadly speaking, the activities piqued student interest and helped advance new perspectives of themselves, CS, and their teachers.more » « less
-
This paper offers a synthesis on computing identity and the experiences of women and minoritized populations in computing and computer science in higher education. Examining computing identity and its role in the computing experiences of minoritized undergraduates can help us better understand ways to engage and support women and minoritized individuals in the computing field thus increasing participation and persistence of these groups in computing. In this article, we present a review of research literature on computing identity within the experiences of women and minoritized undergraduate students in computing. The research questions guiding this work are: (1) What research literature exists about computing identity?, (2) According to existing literature, what are the experiences of women and racially minoritized undergraduates in computing (e.g., persons who identify as Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Indigenous people)?, and (3) What theoretical frameworks are used to guide existing computing identity literature? Emergent themes include the need to focus on exposure to computing, persistence, career expectations, and engagement. While there is no consensus on a computer identity framework, there is research guided by social cognitive career theory, social identity theory, and practice theory. We conclude that computing identity, including its multiple conceptualizations, offers multiple opportunities for informing and broadening participation of minoritized populations in computing. Future research should include further conceptual exploration of computing identity.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- The DOI is not currently available.
