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Culturally relevant and sustaining implementations of computing education are increasingly leveraging young learners' passion for sports as a platform for building interest in different STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) concepts. Numerous disciplines spanning physics, engineering, data science, and especially AI based computing are not only authentically used in professional sports in today's world, but can also be productively introduced to introduce young learnres to these disciplines and facilitate deep engagement with the same in the context of sports. In this work, we present a curriculum that includes a constellation of proprietary apps and tools we show student athletes learning sports like basketball and soccer that use AI methods like pose detection and IMU-based gesture detection to track activity and provide feedback. We also share Scratch extensions which enable rich access to sports related pose, object, and gesture detection algorithms that youth can then tinker around with and develop their own sports drill applications. We present early findings from pilot implementations of portions of these tools and curricula, which also fostered discussion relating to the failings, risks, and social harms associated with many of these different AI methods – noticeable in professional sports contexts, and relevant to youths' lives as active users of AI technologies as well as potential future creators of the same.
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This content will become publicly available on February 18, 2026
Designing for 5th Grader Sports and Computing Experiences
In lieu of ongoing efforts to broaden participation in computing education, we explore a curriculum that integrates sports and computer science, aiming to engage students by drawing on their experiences in both domains. Through an in-school implementation with 5th-grade learners, we examine their engagement by analyzing their attitudes toward sports and computing. Using clustering analysis of student survey responses, we identify four distinct groups, each reflecting different motivations tied to the integration of sports. Our findings highlight how the curriculum's design provided varying levels of access to computer science for different groups of learners.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2047693
- PAR ID:
- 10593241
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 9798400705328
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1589 to 1590
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Pittsburgh PA USA
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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