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.
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.
The Maker Partnership Program (MPP) is an NSF-supported project that addresses the critical need for models of professional development (PD) and support that help elementary-level science teachers integrate computer science and computational thinking (CS and CT) into their classroom practices. The MPP aims to foster integration of these disciplines through maker pedagogy and curriculum. The MPP was designed as a research-practice partnership that allows researchers and practitioners to collaborate and iteratively design, implement and test the PD and curriculum. This paper describes the key elements of the MPP and early findings from surveys of teachers and students participating in the program. Our research focuses on learning how to develop teachers’ capacity to integrate CS and CT into elementary-level science instruction; understanding whether and how this integrated instruction promotes deeper student learning of science, CS and CT, as well as interest and engagement in these subjects; and exploring how the model may need to be adapted to fit local contexts. Participating teachers reported gaining knowledge and confidence for implementing the maker curriculum through the PDs. They anticipated that the greatest implementation challenges would be lack of preparation time, inaccessible computer hardware, lack of administrative support, and a lack of CS knowledge. Student survey results show that most participants were interested in CS and science at the beginning of the program. Student responses to questions about their disposition toward collaboration and persistence suggest some room for growth. Student responses to questions about who does CS are consistent with prevalent gender stereotypes (e.g., boys are naturally better than girls at computer programming), particularly among boys.
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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