A case study of the integration of culturally relevant computer science: The planning practices of elementary teachers in a research-practice partnership.
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Title: A case study of the integration of culturally relevant computer science: The planning practices of elementary teachers in a research-practice partnership.
An often overlooked but important component of understanding how to support teachers to enact computer science (CS) instruction is investigating how they plan CS activities. This study investigates how teachers in a research-practice partnership (RPP) report planning to integrate culturally relevant CS into their lessons. Teachers were interviewed about how they planned lessons to implement culturally relevant CS in their classrooms. Researchers analyzed the interviews using a framework of persistent challenges that teachers confront when planning and enacting instruction. Findings include that teachers were capable of anticipating and overcoming challenges of supporting students with basic technology skills. However, results also highlight that teachers planning CS instruction may need additional support to anticipate ways to assess student thinking, strategies for managing student behavior, and to develop and reach their personal goals for implementing culturally relevant CS lessons. more »« less
Hoffman, D. L.; Leong, P.; Ka'aloa, R. P.; Paek, S.
(, Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning)
Bastiaens, T.
(Ed.)
This presentation reports a mixed-methods study examining how in- service Computer Science (CS) teachers working in Hawai'i perceive the concept of culturally-relevant computing. Data for the study came from a survey sent to CS teachers (n = 19) and focus group interviews with a subset of respondents (n = 10). Analysis of the data revealed a snapshot of teachers’ beliefs about culturally-relevant computing, as well as their current practices related to culturally-relevant pedagogy in the domain of CS. Detailed findings will be presented along with a discussion of the considerations and challenges in-service teachers face when planning and implementing culturally-relevant CS lessons.
Nolte, A; Rolon-Dow, R; Mouza, C; Pollock, L
(, Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association)
Despite growth in computer science (CS) education, females and racially minoritized populations remain underrepresented in the field. Integrating culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) in CS education is critical to reducing these disparities. In this work, we investigate how teachers employ student characterizations to support their approaches to CS and CRP integration following participation in professional development (PD) designed to support the integration of CS and CRP in content area instruction. Qualitative interview data were collected from 15 elementary teachers who attended the PD. Findings indicate that teachers referenced academic and demographic student characteristics to support their stances toward CS and CRP integration. Implications are drawn regarding the design of PD programs that help elementary teachers consider student identities when designing culturally responsive CS instruction.
Indigenous communities remain significantly underrepresented in computer science (CS) and STEM fields, facing persistent barriers such as limited access to resources, infrastructure, and culturally relevant instruction. This study investigated how educators serving Indigenous populations designed and implemented culturally responsive computing (CRC)[2] curricula within a long-term professional development program grounded in a design-based research framework. The study examined how sustained, collaborative support enabled educators to effectively integrate Indigenous cultural knowledge, values, and practices into computer science education. Seven secondary teachers who work in schools in Arizona and New Mexico with over 90% Native American enrollment participated in a two-year professional development program called Let’s Talk Code Teaching Fellow. The program consisted of twelve online modules,weekly virtual meetings, in-personworkshops, and conference participation[3]. Following the DBR framework [1], teachers engaged in iterative cycles of lesson design, implementation, and revision, creating and teaching three culturally relevant computer science lessons. They received feedback from fellow teachers and research teams, allowing them to improve the connection between computing and cultural relevance in their lessons. The study employed a mixed-methods approach to data collection and analysis. Qualitative data included 14 finalized lesson plans, teacher reflections, teacher interviews, and classroom observation notes, which were thematically analyzed to identify common instructional practices and challenges, as well as strategies that connect culture and computing. Our findings showed that teachers sustained local culture by integrating Indigenous languages and art and innovative computing tools such as Scratch, micro: bit, and Sphero robots into their computing lessons. Teachers reported an increase in their confidence in computer science instruction following the long-term PD and benefited from a strong professional learning community.
Wilson, Joseph P.; Rich, Kathryn; O'Leary, Jared; Miller, Veronica
(, Journal of Computer Science Integration)
Three Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone–serving districts formed a researcher–practitioner partnership with the Wyoming Department of Education, the American Institutes for Research®, and BootUp Professional Development to advance the computer science (CS) education of their elementary students in ways that strengthen their Indigenous identities and knowledges. In this paper, we share experiences from 2019 to 2022 with our curriculum development, professional development (PD), and classroom implementation. The researcher–practitioner partnership developed student and teacher materials to support elementary CS lessons aligned to Wyoming’s CS standards and “Indian Education for All” social studies standards. Indigenous community members served as experts to codesign culturally relevant resources. Teachers explored the curriculum resources during three 4-hour virtual and in-person PD sessions. The sessions were designed to position the teachers as designers of CS projects they eventually implemented in their classrooms. Projects completed by students included simulated interviews with Indigenous heroes and animations of students introducing themselves in their Native languages. Teachers described several positive effects of the Scratch lessons on students, including high engagement, increased confidence, and successful application of several CS concepts. The teachers also provided enthusiastic positive reviews of the ways the CS lessons allowed students to explore their Indigenous identities while preparing to productively use technology in their futures. The Wind River Elementary CS Collaborative is one model for how a researcher–practitioner partnership can utilize diverse forms of expertise, ways of knowing, and Indigenous language to engage in curriculum design, PD, and classroom implementation that supports culturally sustaining CS pedagogies in Indigenous communities.
Mead, H; Nolte, A; Mouza, C; Rolon-Dow, R; Pollock, L
(, Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association)
In this work, we present a professional development (PD) program thatseeks to support elementary teachers as they integrate computer science (CS) with disciplinary content and culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) to create inclusive environments that engage all students with computing. Using semi-structured interviews with 17 participants, we subsequently examine the content, technology tools, and CRP strategies that teachers perceived as represented in lessons designed during their participation in PD. Findings indicated that teachers integrated CS tools primarily with literacy and utilized CRP strategies commonly cited as instructional best practices (e.g., differentiation). Results have implications for future PD as well as research that seeks to support teacher learning about CS-integrated instruction.
Lilly, S, Bredder, E, Crowder, A, and Chiu, J_L. A case study of the integration of culturally relevant computer science: The planning practices of elementary teachers in a research-practice partnership.. Retrieved from https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10628178.
Lilly, S, Bredder, E, Crowder, A, & Chiu, J_L. A case study of the integration of culturally relevant computer science: The planning practices of elementary teachers in a research-practice partnership.. Retrieved from https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10628178.
Lilly, S, Bredder, E, Crowder, A, and Chiu, J_L.
"A case study of the integration of culturally relevant computer science: The planning practices of elementary teachers in a research-practice partnership.". Country unknown/Code not available: Proceedings of the 19th International Conference of the Learning Sciences – ICLS 2025. https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10628178.
@article{osti_10628178,
place = {Country unknown/Code not available},
title = {A case study of the integration of culturally relevant computer science: The planning practices of elementary teachers in a research-practice partnership.},
url = {https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10628178},
abstractNote = {An often overlooked but important component of understanding how to support teachers to enact computer science (CS) instruction is investigating how they plan CS activities. This study investigates how teachers in a research-practice partnership (RPP) report planning to integrate culturally relevant CS into their lessons. Teachers were interviewed about how they planned lessons to implement culturally relevant CS in their classrooms. Researchers analyzed the interviews using a framework of persistent challenges that teachers confront when planning and enacting instruction. Findings include that teachers were capable of anticipating and overcoming challenges of supporting students with basic technology skills. However, results also highlight that teachers planning CS instruction may need additional support to anticipate ways to assess student thinking, strategies for managing student behavior, and to develop and reach their personal goals for implementing culturally relevant CS lessons.},
journal = {},
publisher = {Proceedings of the 19th International Conference of the Learning Sciences – ICLS 2025},
author = {Lilly, S and Bredder, E and Crowder, A and Chiu, J_L},
editor = {Rajala, A and Cortez, A and Hofmann, R and Jornet, A and Lotz-Sisitka, J and Markauskaite, L}
}
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