Collaborative Research: Using Culturally Sustaining Learning Environments to Explore Computational Learning & Identity

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Computing and computational thinking practices are ubiquitous in young people's lives. From the animations programmed in their video games to algorithms used to determine the next song selection from their playlists, today's youth are inundated with simple and complex computational models, tools, and practices. Nationally, computing and computational thinking practices are transforming STEM education and youth workforce preparedness. In fact, computational thinking practices are now recognized, alongside mathematics, as a fundamental core scientific practice in the Next Generation Science Standards. Consequently, much attention has been paid in recent years towards increasing opportunities for youth to engage in STEM content through computing and computational thinking practices. Access to these learning opportunities in computing, however, is inequitable. Youth of color are especially vulnerable to these inequities, as computational thinking practices are often devoid of the cultural capital and community engagement that research has shown to be particularly effective in attracting and engaging youth from underrepresented groups in STEM. This three-year research and design project will examine the intersectionality between computational thinking practices, interdisciplinary STEM learning, and culturally expressive practices on youths' learning and identity development. The model will test the feasibility of culturally sustaining learning environments and the foundational principles of hip hop as a model to engage and encourage middle school youth from predominately underrepresented groups to learn, connect to, and consider computing in their everyday lives. Over a three-year period, an estimated 400 middle school aged youth will participate in the project and research. The youth will meet online and afterschool at community-based sites (i.e., makerspace, arts-based space, community center) in Gary, Indiana; Philadelphia, PA; and Cambridge, MA. A range of interdisciplinary STEM topics will be covered including science principles (e.g., physics), mathematics, engineering, computer programming, digital media, and cross-platform product planning and development through the lens of computational thinking or making practices. The youth will work collaboratively to develop and design their own interdisciplinary STEM-based computing projects, using hip hop as a basis. The online platform, cyber cypher, will be piloted by Youmedia Network Labs, a nationwide network of 28 makerspaces and the Cambridge Agenda for Children-Middle School Network, a network of afterschool programs in Cambridge, MA. With regards to the research, several salient questions will be explored: (1) How do middle school youth appropriate, resist, and/or transform ecologically situated resources and practices as they learn computational making practices? (2) How do variations in different culturally sustaining spaces affect the development of learning in interdisciplinary computational making practices? (3) How do middle school youth appropriate, resist, and/or transform ecologically situated resources as they construct pluralistic computational making identities and within different learning environments? and (4) Across the three sites, what are the design principles of the culturally sustaining computational making environments that contribute to computational making practices and STEM learning and identity development? Data will be collected from surveys, field observations, computational making & design skills assessments, and multimodal design narratives. The results of the research and an external evaluation will be analyzed and disseminated via academic and practitioner targeted journals, conferences, project participant community events, online communities, and social media. This project is funded by STEM + C which supports research and the development of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to the integration of computing within STEM teaching and learning for preK-12 students in both formal and informal settings.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.