A Researcher-Practitioner Partnership with Research and Practice Goals
The goal of the project’s research is to advance the field’s understanding of the role of culturally-relevant computing in preparing educators to integrate CS into their teaching using culturally sustaining practices.
To study this, the project is informed by Desimone’s (2009) model of professional development, which Merchie et al. (2018) summarized as comprising four steps:
- teachers experience effective professional development,
- the professional development increases teachers’ knowledge and skills, attitudes and beliefs,
- teachers use their new knowledge and skills, attitudes and beliefs to improve the content of their instruction or their approach to pedagogy, or both, and
- the instructional changes foster increased student learning.
Using this model as a guide, this research focuses on the first two steps, examining the features of effective professional development and how those features subsequently impact teachers’ knowledge and beliefs.
The rationale for this focus rests on existing evidence that the design of professional development influences teacher beliefs and practices (Borko, 2004; Boylan et al., 2018), as well as evidence suggesting teachers’ knowledge and beliefs tend to influence their instructional practices (Bender et al., 2015).
RQ 1
How does professional development in culturally-relevant computing impact upper elementary teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about a) the subject of CS, b) their ability to teach CS, and c) the relationship between CS and valued culture-based outcomes?
RQ 2
What features of professional development enhance or hinder upper elementary teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about a) the subject of CS, b) their ability to teach CS, and c) the relationship between CS and valued culture-based outcomes?
RQ 3
What principles should guide the design of culturally-relevant computing such that it promotes STEM-related (e.g., CS and CT) and culture-based education outcomes?
Our Research Questions
RQ 1
How does professional development in culturally-relevant computing impact upper elementary teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about a) the subject of CS, b) their ability to teach CS, and c) the relationship between CS and valued culture-based outcomes?
RQ 2
What features of professional development enhance or hinder upper elementary teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about a) the subject of CS, b) their ability to teach CS, and c) the relationship between CS and valued culture-based outcomes?
RQ 3
What principles should guide the design of culturally-relevant computing such that it promotes STEM-related (e.g., CS and CT) and culture-based education outcomes?
Publications, Presentations & Documents
The following are our current publications, conference presentations, research, and additional relevant documents. Learn more about our project below.