Toward Justice in Computing Education: From Pipeline to Computer Science for All

• In Event: 70.019 - Division C Section 1e: Fostering Students' Interest and Attitudes in Computer Science and Engineering Education

Abstract

This paper offers an alternative model to the jobs pipeline metaphor of computing education and argues that a democratic purpose, rather than an economic imperative, should drive educational reform. We offer evidence for this position through our research of the Exploring Computer Science program, an NSF-funded project that brings curriculum, professional development, and policy reform to urban schools in the US. This program forwards a “CS for All” approach that has significantly increased the number of diverse students, expanded students’ computing knowledge, and extended student understandings of how computer scientists think. The mixed methods research findings also identify the inquiry- and equity-based teaching practices that allow for students to connect their own life to CS content in culturally meaningful ways.

Authors

• Joanna Goode, University of Oregon

• Jane S. Margolis, University of California - Los Angeles

• Jean J. Ryoo, Exploratorium