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Despite increased attention on promoting access to computer science among all students, female and racially minoritized youth continue to be underrepresented in STEM, often lacking opportunities for computer science due to under-resourced schools and a lack of teacher preparation. As a result, K-12 schools are unable to fulfill the goal of expanding access and broadening participation in computing alone. In this paper, we examine how our university-library partnerships can provide access to computer science instruction while attending to issues of social justice through culturally responsive informal learning design. Findings provide insights related to the design, implementation, and outcomes of informal computing clubs for youth from diverse backgrounds. 

The field of computer science continues to lack diverse representation from women and racially minoritized individuals. One way to address the discrepancies in representation is through systematic changes in computer science education from a young age. Pedagogical and instructional changes are needed to promote meaningful and equitable learning that engages students with rigorous and inclusive curricula. We developed an equity-focused professional development program for teachers that promotes culturally responsive pedagogy in the context of computer science education. This study provides an overview of our culturally responsive framework and a qualitative examination of how teachers (n=9) conceptualized and applied culturally responsive pedagogy in their classrooms. Drawing from grounded theory and lesson assessment rubrics, we developed a codebook to analyze teacher interviews, lesson plans, and questionnaire responses. Findings revealed that, following their participation in professional development, teachers were consistently planning to implement a wide range of culturally responsive instructional and pedagogical practices capable of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in computer science education. 

In this work we examine youth learning in an informal computing programimplemented through a library-university partnership. In particular, we introduce and illustrate a culturally responsive computing framework which served as a foundation for the design of the program. Subsequently, we examine youth collaboration as well as affective and cognitive learning outcomes. Data were collected from university program facilitators and 30 youth over one semester. Data were collected through observations, lesson plans, computational artifacts and interviews with two case study youth. Results indicated that youth formed a variety of learning communities during the collaborative development of computing artifacts. Frequent participants were found to work with a greater number of peers compared to less frequent participants. Results from case study participants also indicated improvements in their computational competencies. Findings from this work have implications for the design of informal learning environments that help broaden participation in computing. 

Informal learning environments are an important part of the educational landscape for diverse learners, and do their best work when creating learning experiences that align with community interests, needs, and ways of knowing. While models exist for exploring design partnerships between schools and communities, fewer evidence-based models are available for these design collaborations between informal learning environments and communities. The overarching question of the proposed session is: How do informal learning environment designers, researchers, and practitioners work with communities to co-design and co-implement socially engaged and equitable educational programs in different sociocultural contexts across the world? As a part of this symposium we highlight projects from Asia, Africa, South and North America that vary both in partnership scale and duration. 

This work examines the design of computer science informal learning programs in two public libraries offered through a university-library partnership. Specifically, the work focuses on dilemmas encountered by program facilitators when designing informal environments that focus on engaging culturally diverse youth with CT concepts. We analyzed over 40 reflection journals from program facilitators, illustrating content selection, pedagogical decisions, and the application of culturally relevant frameworks related to the design of the computing environment. Findings of this study provided insights related to the design, implementation and outcomes of informal computing programs for youth from diverse backgrounds. 

In recent years, there has been increased attention on promoting access to computer science among all students. Our study seeks to address the underrepresentation of racially minoritized youth in computer science by offering a culturally responsive after-school coding club at a local public library that serves a racially and socioeconomically diverse community. We analyzed facilitator interviews and student focus groups using qualitative data analysis with a focus on facilitator positionality and culturally responsive frameworks. Findings suggest facilitator positionality helped establish affirming, near-peer relationships with participants and situated facilitators as advocates for expanding and diversifying computer science. Additionally, the culturally responsive frameworks helped students to feel a sense of belonging in both the informal learning environment and in the field of computer science.