Exploring Computer Science: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Computing

• In Event: 58.025 - Culturally Relevant Computer Science Education: From Theory to Practice

Abstract

Purpose and Perspectives
This paper examines a culturally relevant pedagogical framework for teaching computer science (CS) through research on the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program, an NSF-funded project that brings curriculum and professional development to school districts nationwide. ECS was launched in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) in 2008 with the explicit goal of broadening participation in computing (Goode et. al., 2014). One metric of success is the student demographics that stand in contrast to most other CS courses. In 2014, approximately 2,500 LAUSD students were enrolled in ECS, with demographics mirroring the District: 73% Latino, 11% African American, 7% Asian, and 8% White – and 46% female. No high school CS course in the U.S. has achieved this level of diversity with such a large student population.

This paper explores the following research question: “What instructional practices are effective for engaging diverse students in learning computer science ?”

Methodology
The ethnographic research described in this paper took place in ECS classrooms over the course of an academic school year. Qualitative methods included participant observation and interviews describing what is happening pedagogically (Shavelson & Towne, 2002).

Data Sources
Data sources include field notes, student and teacher interviews, and researcher memos. Data sources were analyzed using grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and the constant-comparative methods (Erickson, 1998) through four rounds of coding. Reports were then generated describing how, if at all, each teacher’s pedagogy changed over time.

Findings
Successfully teaching CS to all students, not just the most privileged, requires a repertoire of instructional strategies. This study found that an array of equitable teaching practices that tap into students’ identities is necessary to make the classroom a welcoming learning environment for all students. These equity-based practices identified include:
• Culturally responsive teaching that makes CS learning relevant to students’ experiences and out-of-school knowledge.
• Incorporating students’ cultures as assets instead of deficits.
• Connecting classroom learning to the socio-political contexts and issues relevant to students.
• Teachers’ caring and respectful relationships with students.
• Teachers’ on-going reflection about their own and students’ belief systems about who can excel in CS.
• Maintaining high expectations for all students and countering stereotypes about who excels in CS.
• Differentiated learning for diverse learning styles, English Language Learners, and Special Education students.
• Creating opportunities for students to broaden participation in computing outside of the classroom.

Scholarly Significance
In order to achieve “CS for All,” students need opportunities to be able to see themselves as a cultural fit with computer science. These findings extend the research on science learning for traditionally underrepresented students showing how engagement and learning is deepened when the field is presented in a way that “allows youth to express who they are…in ways that meaningfully blends their social worlds with the world of science” (Calabrese Barton et. al., 2010). This study contributes to the scholarship on CS education by identifying features of culturally relevant pedagogical practices that allow students to connect their life circumstances to CS content in personally meaningful ways.

Authors

• Joanna Goode, University of Oregon

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