Blogs (19) >>
Thu 16 Mar 2023 14:35 - 15:00 at 801A - K-12: Broadening Participation in Computing Chair(s): Sergio Gago-Masague

Researchers and practitioners have worked to bring computer science to all students. However, CS is still an inequitable field. When developing curricula, we must account for the importance of connecting the lives and identities of historically marginalized students with instructional materials. We examine the knowledge and experiences that elementary (age 9-10) students drew upon to implement an open-ended programming assignment about themselves. We coded the Scratch projects of 189 students to investigate what aspects of their lives students reference, and how they use various modalities in Scratch to create digital media products about themselves. In our data, we found that the most common spheres portrayed were identity, hobbies and leisure, and interests. When expressing their identities, students narrated their experiences, expressed consciousness about their skills, connected to the user via their interests, and sometimes discussed equity. Additionally, our findings add to previous literature arguing that Scratch is an effective platform for digital media production. In particular, we found that students used dialogue, images, sound, and the title to represent their spheres of influence through programming multimedia and interactive projects. This work has implications for the development of curricula and teaching guides for upper elementary students courses on computational thinking. Spheres of influence could inform researchers on the most influential aspects of students life in a specific context, providing elements for creating culturally relevant and interest-based materials and lessons.

Thu 16 Mar

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13:45 - 15:00
K-12: Broadening Participation in ComputingPapers at 801A
Chair(s): Sergio Gago-Masague University of California, Irvine
13:45
25m
Paper
CompSciConnect: A Multi-Year Summer Program to Broaden Participation in ComputingK12In-Person
Papers
Kristina Kramarczuk University of Maryland, College Park, David Weintrop University of Maryland, Jandelyn Plane University of Maryland, College Park / Ripon College, Kate Atchison University of Maryland, College Park, Charlotte Avery University of Maryland, College Park
DOI
14:10
25m
Paper
Confidence is the Key: Unlocking Predictive Factors of Latinx Elementary Students on a Computational Thinking MeasureK12In-PersonGlobal
Papers
Leiny Garcia University of California, Irvine, Miranda Parker San Diego State University, Santiago Ojeda-Ramirez University of California, Irvine, Mark Warschauer University of California, Irvine
DOI
14:35
25m
Paper
Describing Elementary Students’ Spheres of Influence in Scratch ‘About me’ ProjectsK12In-Person
Papers
Santiago Ojeda-Ramirez University of California, Irvine, Jennifer Tsan WestEd, Donna Eatinger University of Chicago, Sharin Jacob University of California, Irvine, Dana Saito-Stehberger University of California, Irvine, Diana Franklin University of Chicago, Mark Warschauer University of California, Irvine
DOI