Macrolevel Design: Investigating Computational Learning Ecosystems Across a Metropolis

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

Abstract

Objectives: This poster investigates computational learning opportunities and participation across a large midwestern city, paying attention to infrastructural elements (i.e. transportation system, registration processes, costs, program locations) that can impact which students are able to make it through the door.

Research questions: How are computational learning opportunities and participation distributed throughout the city? What are the organizational and infrastructural strengths in unique neighborhoods? How can city stakeholders use patterns of opportunity and participation to make smart decisions about the allocation of resources in communities?

Framework: Learning is increasingly understood as a distributed process across multiple settings and timescales (Barron, 2006). We describe the degree with which youth and families can engage in opportunities as freedom of movement (Pinkard, 2019), building on Gutierrez’s (2008) concept of learning as movement from the perspective of sociocultural theory. Freedom of movement can be interpreted as being able to move within a learning ecosystem, crossing physical boundaries of locations, domain-specific boundaries of topical areas, and conceptual boundaries of value and goodness of fit.

Methods/Data: The [sociotechnical platform] is a city/university partnership initiative that seeks to support and understand out-of-school learning opportunities across the city. Over 200 organizations have listed over 32,000 programs in the platform resulting in a database of over 32,000 opportunities tagged with topic areas and geocoded for location. Public school students have a [platform] account where they can identify interest areas and see a history of their participation across spaces. Bringing aggregated [platform] data together with public location-embedded data, including the US census and community surveys and city databases with information about public schools, transportation systems, and local communities, we use ArcGIS, a sophisticated GIS visualization and analysis, to explore and synthesize patterns of youth interest and participation and community opportunity and infrastructure.

Results: Analysis of 2019 data is ongoing through summer and will culminate in a design workshop with city stakeholders to identify opportunities for program and infrastructural (re)designs. Analysis to date has shown that youth want to learn more about a range of design and technology topics such as robotics, storytelling, and Minecraft, but opportunities are overwhelmingly classified as sports. Coding, computer science, and engineering opportunities are located in areas with existing infrastructure (e.g., broadband Internet, reliable computer hardware, ample storage and work spaces). Many are downtown, in areas where there are higher-education facilities but where minoritized K-12 students do not live. Design approaches have emerged in work with existing community partners: (1) Utilizing and connecting accessible learning spaces, (2) Ensuring safe and affordable transportation paths, and (3) Establishing and making visible learning expectations that resonate with the individual learners and their community.

Significance: Recent quantitative studies reveal the critical importance and future implications of communities (e.g. Bell et al., 2017). Examining opportunities and participation through the prism of race, socioeconomic indicators, and geography makes visible a continuum of real and perceived opportunities and barriers to learning in a city that can inform design decisions at different levels.

Authors

• Nichole Pinkard, Northwestern University

• Caitlin K Martin, Digital Youth Network