K-12 Student Agency in Addressing Ethics and Impacts of Computing: A Review of the Literature

• In Event: Can Education Stop Killer Robots? Exploring Values, Ethics, and Impacts in K12 Computer Science Instruction

Abstract

Objectives
This literature review examines current peer-reviewed articles that detail the ways that students and educators are actuating critical pedagogies and computational thinking to establish students’ roles as “agentive participants” (Vogel, 2021, p. 6) in K-12 Computer Science Education settings in efforts to combat techno-solutionism and techno-determinism, resist oppression, and promote justice. The literature review answers the following research questions:

RQ1: What does the literature say about how students are using what they've learned about computer science, or computer science ethics to address societal issues?
RQ2: What does the literature say about the pedagogies teachers are enacting to support students' agency and activism in computer science education?

Theoretical framework
The authors of the included articles utilize critical and justice-centered computing frameworks to inform their analysis of pedagogical practices that promote and support agentic participation (Vogel 2021).

Methods
The selected articles were narrowed down from a broader systematic literature review about ethics and social impacts of computing across educational levels (PK-graduate), which was conducted using the Protocol, Search, Appraisal, Synthesis, Analysis, and Reporting (PSALSAR) framework proposed by Mengist et al. (2020) to guide the identification and analysis of the included articles. 184 articles in the larger literature review were filtered further for this literature review to include only articles that discussed PK-12 computer science education, and incorporated the social practices of critical inquiry, critical reimagining, and/or critical refusal.

Results
The filtering process resulted in a final selection of 15 articles that informed the pedagogical suggestions included in this presentation. The majority (87%) of the included articles describe ways that teachers are supporting student agency by providing opportunities for critical inquiry. This review features vignettes drawn from the literature that demonstrate how educators can initiate dialogues prompting students to critically assess contemporary technologies and their associated practices.

Scholarly Significance
This literature review highlights examples of how students, teachers, and researchers are promoting student agency in computer science education, in efforts to inspire computer science educators to create opportunities for agentic participation in their classrooms. There is a need for clear, practical, and actionable pedagogical suggestions that teachers can incorporate into their curricula. The review concludes with a summarized guide, including discussion questions and talking points to support critical inquiry and critical refusal, and tips for teachers and facilitators to inspire the reimagination of technologies.

Authors

• Brooke Starks, Michigan State University

• Hyein Jee, Michigan State University

• Xinyue Zhou, Michigan State University

• Michael L. Lachney, Michigan State University

• Rafi Santo, Telos Learning LLC

• Jean J. Ryoo, University of California - Los Angeles