skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


  • NSF Public Access
  • Search Results
  • “I Want to Be Unique From Other Robots”: Positioning Girls as Co-creators of Social Robots in Culturally-Responsive Computing Education
Title: “I Want to Be Unique From Other Robots”: Positioning Girls as Co-creators of Social Robots in Culturally-Responsive Computing Education
Robot technologies have been introduced to computing education to engage learners. This study introduces the concept of co-creation with a robot agent into culturally-responsive computing (CRC). Co- creation with computer agents has previously focused on creating external artifacts. Our work differs by making the robot agent itself the co-created product. Through participatory design activities, we positioned adolescent girls and an agentic social robot as co- creators of the robot’s identity. Taking a thematic analysis approach, we examined how girls embody the role of creator and co-creator in this space. We identified themes surrounding who has the power to make decisions, what decisions are made, and how to maintain social relationship. Our findings suggest that co-creation with robot technology is a promising implementation vehicle for realizing CRC.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1935801 1811086
PAR ID:
10463394
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’23)
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1 to 14
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; (, Proceedings of the 27th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education)
    Computing education is important for K-12 learners, but not all learners resonate with common educational practices. Culturally responsive computing initiatives center and empower learners from diverse and historically excluded backgrounds. Recently, a number of educational programs have been developed and curated for an online experience. In this paper, we describe an online synchronous culturally responsive computing (CRC) camp for middle school girls (ages 11-14 years old) and report on challenges and successes from running the camp curriculum four times over the course of a year. We also describe core iterative changes we made between our runs. We then discuss lessons learned related to building rapport and connection among learners, centering learners of different backgrounds in an online synchronous environment, and facilitating reflection on power and identity aimed at positioning learners as techno-social change agents. Lastly, we offer recommendations for running online CRC experiences. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; (, Companion of the 2021 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction)
    null (Ed.)
    Robots' spatial positioning is a useful communication modality in social interactions. For example, in the context of group conversations, certain types of positioning signal membership to the group interaction. How does robot embodiment influence these perceptions? To investigate this question, we conducted an online study in which participants observed renderings of several robots in a social environment, and judged whether the robots were positioned to take part in a group conversation with other humans in the scene. Our results suggest that robot embodiment can influence perceptions of conversational group membership. An important factor to consider in this regard is whether robot embodiment leads to a discernible orientation for the agent. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; (, Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS))
    null (Ed.)
    Robots are increasingly being introduced into domains where they assist or collaborate with human counterparts. There is a growing body of literature on how robots might serve as collaborators in creative activities, but little is known about the factors that shape human perceptions of robots as creative collaborators. This paper investigates the effects of a robot’s social behaviors on people’s creative thinking and their perceptions of the robot. We developed an interactive system to facilitate collaboration between a human and a robot in a creative activity. We conducted a user study (n = 12), in which the robot and adult participants took turns to create compositions using tangram pieces projected on a shared workspace. We observed four human behavioral traits related to creativity in the interaction: accepting robot inputs as inspiration, delegating the creative lead to the robot, communicating creative intents, and being playful in the creation. Our findings suggest designs for co-creation in social robots that consider the adversarial effect of giving the robot too much control in creation, as well as the role playfulness plays in the creative process. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; (, International Society of the Learning Sciences)
    Blikstein, P; Van_Aalst, J; Kizito, R; Brennan, K (Ed.)
    Broadening participation in computing requires a deeper understanding of how to support girls of color in developing computing identities, or views of themselves as active participants within computing. We propose the concept of authentic invitations as a promising avenue for supporting girls of color in developing computing identities. To illustrate the three proposed dimensions of an authentic invitation, we highlight the experiences of Deandra, a 16- year-old Black girl who participated in an informal computing program for girls of color hosted in public libraries. Our findings show how offering voluntary, contextual, and responsive invitations to participate in computing can support girls of color in authoring computing identities that integrate their social and personal experiences. 
    more » « less
  5. ; (, ACM Transactions on Computing Education)
    Culturally responsive computing (CRC), that centers sociopolitical issues and transformational uses of technology, has been described as valuable for increasing engagement with computing, especially for historically underrepresented minoritized students. But what do high school students think? Through a sociocultural lens prioritizing student voices recorded in 56 interviews over a period of 2 years (1–3 years after students’ first experience with computer science (CS) education through Exploring Computer Science or Advanced Placement CS Principles in high school), this study centers the perspectives of 39 primarily low-income, Latine and Black youth from urban California and rural Mississippi public schools to understand what they perceive as the role of technology in our world and what they subsequently desire of their computing education. While none have studied CRC before, the majority responded with CRC ideas about the kind of pedagogy they believe would make for a more meaningful computing learning experience: They see computing as a form of power that impacts both good and bad in the world and want computing educators to prepare them to take on these issues of equity, ethics, social responsibility, and underrepresentation in the field. The students’ perspectives offer important pedagogical insight into how to support deeper engagement with computing in current CS for All initiatives, while also preparing youth for the rapidly evolving and increasingly complex computing landscape that impacts all of our lives. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email