Toolkit
Inclusive Integration of Computational Thinking
Part of Computational Thinking for Next Generation Science Toolkit
Audiences
Related Programs
Topics
Learning Environments
Teachers can establish, support, and grow a student community inclusive of students historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines (e.g. African Americans/Blacks, Latinx, Native Americans/Alaskan Natives, English language learners, female-identifying students and neurodiverse learners). Presented here are some strategies to break the stereotype of who can and should participate in computing by changing how and why students engage in computational thinking practices. To further envision an equitable, culturally relevant computational thinking pathway in your school or district, explore the “Envisioning a Culturally Relevant Computational Thinking Pathway” reference sheet.
- Examining oppressive structures in society by prompting students to express, share, and discuss experiences of inequality, both their own and those of marginalized groups they may or may not be a part of. Computational tools provide students an opportunity to model these instances of systemic inequality and/or design innovative technological solutions to promote a more equitable world.
- Providing students choice in their creation of computational artifacts by curating and modeling a variety of product outputs (e.g., interactive art, digital stories, e-textiles, video games, and simulations) that align with learning objectives. This is particularly important for neurodiverse learners who may benefit from different modes of engagement. This flexibility allows more powerful learning experiences as teachers create relevant and authentic design challenges, and students design, create, and iteratively share and revise their own personal digital creations.
- Collaborating to design and refine computational products by working with peers to troubleshoot design problems and iteratively share and revise computational artifacts. Structuring collaborative activities for shared responsibility and voice, particularly within a diverse pairing of students, can provide opportunities that increase student confidence.
- Designing and assessing computational artifacts for diverse users by eliciting multiple perspectives from users with different abilities and backgrounds. Students may engage in empathy interviews to understand points of view that are different from their own. Additionally, they should have multiple opportunities to share computational artifacts with users of different abilities and backgrounds and make revisions to increase accessibility and remove bias.
- Providing accessible learning materials by designing instructional materials using Universal Design for Learning (UDL). For example, consider how to scaffold information and processes for each student. Additionally, create accessible learning experiences by providing appropriate background information and using appropriate fonts, languages, and visualizations. For more information, see “Empowering K-12 Students with Disabilities to Learn Computational Thinking and Computer Programming” by Maya Israel, Quentin Wherfel, Jamie Pearson, Saadeddine Shehab, and Tanya Tapia.
How inclusive integration can look in the classroom
Our partner Kennan Scott, a middle school teacher in Oakland, leveraged design thinking and agency by design to provide a platform for his students to expose and address injustices faced by individuals in the community. By using empathy interviews with family and community members, students in Kennan’s middle school science class designed apps that supported the safety of people in their community.
“The students were able to get more technical with applications and produce a higher level of application because they were able to dive deeper into the cause and the reasoning for what they were doing. It drove home the idea that this is a transformative act — that you can use the creativity and the power of computational thinking to actually make a change.”
Look Fors
Teachers will know that students are being provided equitable opportunities to engage in computational thinking because they may observe that students are:
Making connections to their lives and interests
- Developing their own questions and design challenges
- Designing computational solutions (e.g., algorithms) for phenomena that are relevant to their lives and communities
- Leveraging computational tools (e.g., models) to explore curiosities and make connections between their lived experiences and scientific phenomena
Examining oppressive structures in society
- Expressing, sharing, and discussing experiences of inequality
- Designing computational solutions (e.g., algorithms) for phenomena that are relevant to their lives and communities
- Analyzing bias in the design of a dataset, algorithm, and/or model with a lens of how it may be excluding marginalized voices and/or perspectives
- Leveraging datasets and/or computational models to illustrate systemic inequities to marginalized communities (Example: Analyzing Environmental Justice)
- Designing tools to promote a more equitable world
Provided choice in their creation of computational artifacts
- Selecting a computational artifact to design and create (e.g., interactive art, digital stories, e-textiles, video games, and simulations)
- Prototyping solutions to design challenges
Collaborating to design and refine computational products
- Students equally contributing in unique and meaningful ways to a design process and/or computational artifact
- Shared responsibility and voice among peers
- Advocating for peers when additional resources are needed
Designing and assessing computational artifacts for diverse users
- Eliciting perspectives and feedback from peers, family and community members with diverse backgrounds and ability levels
- Evaluating accessibility and bias of a design process and/or computational product
- Revising computational artifacts to increase accessibility and reduce bias
Providing accessible learning materials
- Expressing information and processing in multiple modes and languages
- Utilizing tools accessible to all students in the classroom or providing equivalent alternatives
Prompting Questions
Ask students to reflect on their process or progress with these prompting questions:
Making connections to their lives and interests
- How does this phenomenon relate to your life and/or community?
- What do you wonder about this phenomenon?
Examining oppressive structures in society
- Can you design a tool that would have helped/could help _________ (example of oppression students are familiar with)?
- Is what you are designing equitable to all people and populations, or does it work differently depending on race, class, language, or gender?
- Can you use a computational tool to model or express:
- A real-life incident where each participant had a different experience?
- A situation in which how a person speaks determines how others think about a person?
- A situation in which a person is expected to talk or act a certain way?
Providing students choice in their creation of computational artifacts
- What are you planning to create?
- Who are you designing the artifact for?
- What is the purpose of the artifact?
- How will you design your artifact to achieve the purpose?
- How does the design address/anticipate the needs of users?
Collaborating to design and refine computational products
- What is your role in the design or production of your artifact?
- How will you make sure that the voice of all team members is heard?
- What resources will you explore if your team is facing a challenge?
Designing computational artifacts for diverse users
- Is what you are designing equitable to all people and populations, or does it work differently depending on race, class, language, gender or ability?
- Does your design process consider users of different backgrounds and ability levels?
- Ask users of different backgrounds and abilities:
- How could a computational artifact help you address a challenge? Can you give an example?
- What challenges are you experiencing?
- How could the design be modified to make it easier to use?
Providing accessible learning materials
Ask students:
- What problem are you experiencing?
- What solutions have you tried?
- What information do you need?
- What resources have you explored?
- Can I explain this in another way?
- Can you think of a way to say this in another language?
Teachers ask themselves:
- Are all of my students fully able to engage with this tool?
- Did I provide materials that scaffold student learning?
- Am I providing instructions verbally and in writing?
- Would my students benefit from a graphical representation of the instructions?