Practices of Design and Their Role in Identity

• In Event: Dis/Connecting With Computing: Designing for Critical Identities and Equitable Inquiry in K–12 Computer Science Education

Abstract

Objectives and Framework: This study explores novice coders’ identities by examining how students engaged and experienced coding in a week-long camp, and their perceptions of themselves as coders. Research from mathematics education has documented that students’ mathematical identities—the situated understandings students develop about themselves—are constructed through their experiences with the discipline (Boaler & Greeno, 2000; Langer-Osuna, 2015; Larnell, 2016). Specifically, the practices that organize classrooms and communicate what it means to do math (Cobb, Gresalfi, & Hodge, 2009), and the broader and local messages about who is capable of doing math (McGee & Martin, 2011) serve as fundamental resources for identity development. This frame organizes our investigation into students’ identity development in relation to computer science.

Methods: Data comes from two week-long camps that focused on the intersections between Art and Coding. The first camp focused on image manipulation and the second focused on physical movement as forms of expression. Both modules coordinated exploration of traditional artistic forms (painting and dance) with students’ own designs, using a coding platform called NetLogo. To support student agency, the week involved design cycles of exploring, collaborating, failure, and revision (Kolodner et al., 2003). Learning to code in NetLogo was supported with a series of models that allowed students to explore features of the program (Sherin, Azevedo, & diSessa, 2005), and develop and test conjectures about how different commands worked. The analysis draws on student work from a sample of 12 students across the two camps, and semi-structured interviews with all students (n=45). Questions targeted students’ experiences in the camp, their sense of themselves as coders, and ideas about computer science. Interviews were transcribed and coded using emergent coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) by three researchers, all of whom were present for the week of camp.

Results and Significance: The majority of students had little to no prior experience with coding, and knew little about its applications. All students expressed enjoyment of camp and coding, despite sharing stories of failure and struggle. These were always accompanied by recounting strategies for how to overcome challenges that primarily preserved their own agency, such as by referencing previous codes, modifying existing codes, or talking with peers. Students’ descriptions of coding and the camp were often distinct from their experiences at school, where making mistakes had high stakes, where learning was not fun, teachers were stressed, and they often felt unsuccessful. It appeared that both the iterative and flexible nature of their design work, along with the collaborative nature of the camp classroom, contributed to this sense of coding as being a challenging, but attainable, activity. However, this comfort and appreciation did not immediately influence students’ sense of themselves as capable of coding; although all students seemed satisfied with their work over the week, they also were unclear about whether they would continue with coding or pursue a career that involved coding in any way. This might have been due to the fact that students’ only exposure to coding in the camp was in the context of art and design.

Author

• Melissa Sommefeld Gresalfi, Vanderbilt University