Teachers' Perspectives on Integrating Sociotechnical Awareness in English and Social Studies Classrooms (Poster 5)

• In Event: Computational Thinking in Humanities

Abstract

Objectives
Adopting more interdisciplinary approaches can expand all students’ opportunities to develop sociotechnical awareness, or the ability to analyze, critique, and reimagine the computing technologies that increasingly shape our lives. Learning from teachers’ perspectives regarding this interdisciplinary work is a fundamental step toward designing instruction that fosters sociotechnical awareness in the context of valued disciplinary practices. This study reports on interviews of teachers of English language arts (ELA) and Social Studies (SS), disciplines to which almost all students have access. The aim of these interviews was to identify possibilities and challenges of fostering sociotechnical awareness within broader ELA and SS objectives.

Background
Researchers have called for inclusion of sociopolitical issues in K-12 computing education (e.g., Goode & Ryoo, 2019), but such discussions have been marked primarily for students enrolled in computer science (CS) coursework. To make computing education accessible to all learners with the broader objective of benefiting society, it is necessary to deemphasize CS classes as the only settings for meaningful computing education. Interdisciplinary development of sociotechnical awareness can provide nuanced, historicized, and more inclusive ways of seeing and understanding sociopolitical implications of computing (Vakil & Higgs, 2019). However, little is known about teachers’ perspectives on adopting interdisciplinary approaches in non-CS classes. Disciplines such as ELA and SS are potential homes for critical explorations of computing, but teachers’ professional expertise is needed to understand how disciplinary practices and objectives may/may not support these endeavors.

Methods
I interviewed 14 ELA and 12 SS teachers (ranging from third to 28th year of teaching). Interviews were recorded with consent and transcribed. Inductive and deductive coding identified teachers’ perspectives regarding a) how critical examination of digital technology might align with disciplinary goals, b) potential challenges that sociotechnical awareness might pose in ELA and Social Studies classes, and c) supports needed for this interdisciplinary work to succeed.

Findings
All 26 teachers reported that examining social impacts of technology is relevant to students’ lives; 24 said this could be integrated in courses they teach. Several noted that they aim to address social power, ethics, and “progress” in their classes and that sociotechnical awareness aligns with these critical aims. For example, one SS teacher said, “It might be interesting to consider the Constitution as a set of rules or algorithm written with particular biases.” Teachers articulated various challenges, including finding time to build relevant background knowledge for themselves and students, meaningfully connecting ideas and assessments to students’ lived experiences, and developing effective instructional materials “from scratch.” A number of supports were suggested, including pre-organized materials to educate teachers and help them scope computing topics that might connect most naturally with ELA and SS goals and time to collaborate with colleagues.

Significance
More must be done to ensure that all learners, and not just those on CS pathways, are equipped with sociotechnical awareness that they can leverage in everyday life. Teachers’ insights reported in this study offer computing educators concrete issues to consider when working with teachers to design for and implement interdisciplinary approaches to computing education.

Author

• Jennifer Higgs, University of California - Davis
  Presenting Author