Associate Professor Dan Hoffman, in the UH Manoa College of Education Department of Learning Design and Technology (LTEC), was presented with the Outstanding Research & Theory Accepted Proposal Award at the 2025 Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) International Conference for his work with recent LTEC graduate Jessica Chillingworth and current doctoral student Larry Nguyen.
“I am incredibly honored and grateful to the AECT Research and Theory Division for selecting our team’s proposal for this award,” Hoffman said. “This recognition reflects the hard work and intellectual curiosity of my students and HIDOE collaborators, and it inspires us to continue pursuing meaningful, high-quality research that can advance our understanding of the role computer science (CS) education should play in preparing students in Hawaiʻi to navigate the digital age.”
Their proposal, “Reshaping the Future: How Early Computer Science Education Influences Student Participation and Achievement,” was based on analyzing the enrollment records of more than 3,600 public school students in Hawai’i and found that requiring a sixth-grade CS course successfully promoted more equitable participation, making students much more likely to choose to take a CS elective in seventh-grade.
“We found this was a pattern that seemed to hold for a number of key underrepresented groups,” Hoffman explained. “The results of our study suggest that mandatory early CS education may be an effective policy tool for boosting enrollment and helping students be more curious about CS, outcomes that will likely promote digital literacy.”
A member of AECT for a decade, Hoffman has been heavily involved in the International Division, serving as its President in 2023-2024, chairing the Awards Committee in 2024-2025, and currently serving as the International Affiliates Liaison for 2025-2026. Chillingworth, who graduated last May, has attended and presented at multiple AECT conferences. This was Nguyen’s first AECT conference. Both students presented their own research in addition to the proposal related to the award.
“Jessica and Larry have been instrumental in conducting this research from conceptualization and implementation to writing and dissemination,” Hoffman said. “We have been working in the area of CS education in Hawai’i for several years as part of a research-practice partnership supported by the Hawaiian Education Research Network (HERN). In short, this has been a wonderful and productive collaboration.”
Chillingworth and Nguyen were HERN Fellows who worked with Hoffman on the Act 158 Computer Science Support Project. Their current work is an extension of this project, which continues to be supported by the HIDOE and members of the Digital Design Team in the Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design.
“This award means a lot because it recognizes the collaborative work behind this project,” Nguyen said. “As a graduate student, being part of a team whose proposal stood out at this level is both validating and inspiring.”
“This award was a pleasant surprise, but it recognizes our team’s dedication to research and partnership with HIDOE,” Chillingworth said. “It also reinforces my commitment to advancing the field in meaningful ways, especially post-graduation.”
