

Examining the Role of Racial Identity and Personal Experiences in Equity-focused Computer Science Learning
Effective Years: 2021-2024
This project will explore the significance of race and equity in secondary computer science (CS) education. Despite the importance of CS across all aspects of life, there is little racial diversity in the field along the pipeline from elementary school to industry. At the secondary level, even students who are highly interested and confident in CS remain underrepresented in the field. To address this problem, researchers have created culturally responsive computing approaches to effectively engage more students in CS. However, progress in implementing these approaches is limited by the low number of experienced CS teachers. This project aims to support secondary teachers in developing both subject matter knowledge and racial equity strategies for teaching CS.
The first of three goals is to develop a set of professional learning activities that vary in the ways they address CS subject matter and racial equity topics. The second goal is to examine how well each activity engages teachers in learning and talking about CS content, race, and equity pedagogy. The principal investigator will collaborate with an urban school district to deliver the activities during the district’s monthly CS teacher meetings. The third goal is to interview teachers to learn how their racial identity and past experiences in CS and in teaching influence their participation in the activities. The project aims to identify the most effective activities for learning about both racial equity and CS subject matter. The outcomes of this project may support other researchers and teacher educators to train more teachers who are equipped to provide equitable CS learning experiences for all secondary students.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.