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This study explores the relationship Latino/a students developed with Computer Science (CS) and Mathematics while experiencing the Advancing Out-of-School Learning in Mathematics and Engineering (AOLME) curriculum in an after-school setting. Guided by sociocultural perspectives, the authors employed a mixed methods research design to explore how AOLME affects Latino/a students’ knowledge and enjoyment of CS and Mathematics (CSM). Findings show that AOLME is a successful example of integrated CSM curriculum design for K-12 learners by balancing the individual and social classroom setting. Quantitative data analysis indicates that students had significant increases in their self-reported enjoyment and knowledge in CS and Mathematics as they engaged in AOLME. Qualitative data provide evidence that AOLME prepared students with the foundational knowledge, skills, and practices for future endeavors in STEM fields.
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Defining a "Computer Science Person" and the Pedagogical Practices Supporting Positive Identification for Minoritized Youth
This paper explores the relationship between high school students’ shifting computer science (CS) identity and engagement over the course of one school year in both Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles and Exploring Computer Science classrooms in a large US west coast urban school district. Through an analysis of over 500 pre- and post-surveys administered during the 2018-19 school year—with an intersectional analysis comparing Latina and Latino perspectives in this primarily low-income, Latino/a/x school district—this paper answers the following research questions: (1) Who identifies as “CS people” and what does that mean to them? and (2) Which teaching practices seem to have the greatest relationship with CS identification and engagement?
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- PAR ID:
- 10420452
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- SIGCSE
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 673 to 679
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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null (Ed.)Equity is arguably an agreed upon value within the Computer Science education (CSed) community, and perhaps even more so within efforts to universalize access to CSed within K12 settings through emerging `CS for All' initiatives. However, stakeholders often mean different things when referring to equity, with important implications for what CS teaching and learning looks like in schools. In this paper, we explore the question of how K12 school district actors' conceptualizations of equity manifest within their planning and implementation of district-wide CSed initiatives. Based on a research-practice partnership aimed at supporting and researching district-wide CSed initiatives, data presented - interviews with district faculty, district planning documents, meeting transcripts and field observations - were drawn from five participating school districts as they made decisions and enacted activities over 11 months in areas including vision-setting, curriculum, professional development, leadership efforts and use of formative data about implementation. Analyzing these data through equity frameworks found in CSed literature, we highlight three distinct but interconnected ways that district actors conceptualized equity within their CSed initiatives: (1) equity in who Computer Science is for, (2) equity in how Computer Science is taught, and (3) equity in what Computer Science is taught. Data show that these varied conceptualizations resulted in different kinds of decisions about CSed in districts. We discuss the implications of these findings in terms of their relevance to equity-oriented CS education researchers, and what lessons they hold for policy-makers and education leaders engaged in their own efforts to support equitable computer science education.more » « less
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3545945.3569794
