#CSK8 Podcast - A podcast for computer science educators

In this episode I unpack Lachney et al.’s (2021) publication titled “culturally responsive debugging: a method to support cultural experts’ early engagement with code,” which explores a strategy for situating debugging within professional expertise among participants within an introductory programming workshop for adults.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

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00:00 Intro

00:31 Abstract

01:17 My single sentence summary

01:35 Paper introduction

03:43 Literature review

05:32 Context and methods

08:32 Findings

11:21 Discussion

15:02 Lingering questions and thoughts

15:17 What are some other examples of what culturally responsive debugging might look like?

15:45 There appears to be a conflation with the use of the word “culture” to mean both race and profession

17:15 I’m also hung up on the word “expert” as coming across as homogenous among the participants; however, I’m unsure how to delineate different types of expertise people might have in relation to different cultures

21:02 Outro

Building off the previous episode on depression, suicide, and CS education, this episode is a supercut of guests responding to how they take care of themselves and stave off burnout. If you have not done so yet, I highly recommend listening to last year’s supercut on the same topic, but with different guests.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

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00:00 Intro

01:00 51 Learning at Scale with Kristin Stephens-Martinez

08:11 53 Situated Language and Learning with Bryan Brown

09:22 55 Nicki Washington is Unapologetically Dope

12:07 57 Amplifying VOICES for Social Justice with Lien Diaz

14:18 59 dailySTEM with Chris Woods

15:52 61 Designing Curricula at Scale with GT Wrobel

27:17 63 Suggestions and Considerations for District-wide Implementation with Abby Funabiki

29:47 65 CS for All Teachers with Melissa Rasberry

31:54 67 Exploring Computer Science with Joanna Goode

34:22 69 #CSK8 Visions by Vicky Sedgwick

37:00 71 Considering Leisure in Education with Roger Mantie

37:56 73 Vulnerability, Reflection, and CS Education with Amy Ko

40:45 77 Healthy Boundaries with Siobahn Grady

42:40 80 Individualized Learning Without Grades with Sofía De Jesús

47:18 82 Lessons Learned From CSTA Chapters Across the United States with Jason Bohrer

48:20 84 The Rise of CS Across the Pond with Phil Bagge

48:54 86 Computing Education Research with Mark Guzdial

50:33 88 Connecting with and Listening to Students with Dominick Sanders

52:18 90 Making Meaningful Connections with Jean Ryoo

57:41 92 Lessons Learned from (In)Formal CS Education with Grant Smith

58:49 95 Exploring (Dis)Ability and Connecting with the Arts with Jesse Rathgeber

01:03:37 Outro

Note: If you or anyone you know are experiencing signs of depression or suicidal ideation, please reach out to local healthcare professionals or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

In honor of national suicide prevention week, in this week’s episode replay I read a paper I wrote on the topic of depression, suicide, and computer science education. This paper is formatted into the following sections: 1) A vignette on my own experiences coping with depression and suicide; 2) Statistics on depression and suicide as it relates to various populations computer science educators work with; 3) A vignette of a computer science educator helping a student through depression and suicidal thoughts; 4) Risk factors and warning signs; 5) Suggestions for providing support; 6) A vignette from a computer science educator's perspective on a student who committed suicide; and 7) Closing thoughts.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

Learn more about National Suicide Prevention Month/Week/Day.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

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0:00 Intro

4:38 Vignette 1: Jared

10:45 Statistics on suicide

17:44 Statics on depression

20:30 Vignette 2: Chris and Elliott

28:14 Risk factors and warning signs

32:28 Suggestions for providing support

37:04 Vignette 3: Alex and Sam

40:55 Closing thoughts

In this episode I unpack Kallia and Cutts’ (2021) publication titled “Re-examining inequalities in computer science participation from a Bourdieusian sociological perspective,” which uses Bourdieu’s discussions of capital, habitus, and field to analyze 147 publications on CS interventions.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

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00:00 Intro

00:30 Abstract

02:13 My single sentence summary

02:44 Framework used within this paper

08:38 Capital

11:09 Habitus

12:08 Field

14:25 Methodology

14:50 Results

15:51 How can inequalities in computer science participation be understood by applying sociological perspectives and particularly, Bourdieu's theory of social reproduction?

19:50 What new directions and opportunities does Bourdieusian lens offer for tackling issues in inequalities in computer science participation?

26:45 Research gaps and future research directions

27:43 What do you want to learn more about on this topic or other topics in CS education?

28:40 Outro

In this episode I unpack Christensen et al.’s (2021) publication titled “Computing educational activities involving people rather than things appeal more to women (recruitment perspective),” which investigated the preferences of high school males and females for computing educational activities with people or things.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

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00:00 Intro

00:35 Abstract

02:20 My single sentence summary

02:58 Paper introduction

04:06 Design

05:41 Results

08:07 Internal and external threats to validity

08:29 Conclusion

08:41 Lingering questions and thoughts

08:50 If the authors from this paper were to engage in a discussion with the authors from the unpacking scholarship episode I did on the paper titled “Eliminating Gender Bias in Computer Science Education Materials,” what would they say?

11:34 Outro

In this episode I unpack Israel et al.’s (2015) publication titled “Empowering K–12 students with disabilities to learn computational thinking and computer programming,” which is a short article that provides some strategies to increase access and engagement among students with disabilities in CS education contexts.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

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00:00 Intro

00:33 My single sentence summary

01:31 Paper introduction

03:14 Teaching computing through the UDL framework

05:55 Balancing instruction with open-ended inquiry

09:11 Encouraging collaboration

10:09 Student-to-student help seeking

11:42 Experiment with different software and hardware to increase accessibility

12:13 Lingering questions and thoughts

12:23 What strategies did Jesse Rathgeber mention in the previous podcast that might work well with the strategies mentioned in this article?

13:12 How might these strategies benefit all students (i.e., not just students with disabilities)?

14:14 Outro

In this interview with Jesse Rathgeber, we discuss what educators should know about (dis)ability culture and research, person-first language vs identity-first language, suggestions for combating ableism through anti-ableist practices, how the arts and CS can come together and learn from each other (great for sharing with arts educators who might be interested in CS), and much more.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

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00:00 Intro

01:39 Jesse introducing himself

02:03 Maker-Educator-Researcher

05:42 What led to Jesse's exploration of CS and the arts

09:25 What surprised Jesse about the intersections of CS and the arts

15:21 What Jesse wishes more people understood about disability research

18:40 Disability discourse

24:26 Ableist discourse

34:47 Uncovering ableist biases

41:32 What can arts educators and CS educators learn from each other?

46:50 If Jesse had a magic wand...

49:15 What Jesse does to prevent burnout

54:24 What Jesse wishes there was more research on

57:48 Something Jesse could use assistance with

58:28 Questions for the field

59:59 How to connect with Jesse

01:01:08 Outro

In this episode I unpack Coenraad et al.’s (2021) publication titled “The effects of providing starter projects in open-ended Scratch activities,” which compares two groups of students to determine the impact of Scratch starter projects on student creativity.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

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00:00 Intro

00:46 Abstract

01:44 My single sentence summary

02:35 Theory and prior work

03:54 Findings

04:15 Finding 1

04:36 Finding 2

05:14 Finding 3

05:39 Finding 4

06:09 Finding 5

08:30 Finding 6

08:58 Finding 7

09:07 Finding 8

09:16 Summary of findings

10:14 Lingering questions and thoughts

10:19 How does either approach impact cognitive load for novice Scratchers?

10:35 How does either approach impact creativity?

11:25 What kind of balance do you strive for with your projects?

13:00 Outro

In this episode I unpack Ivey et al.’s (2021) publication titled “Abolitionist computer science teaching: Moving from access to justice,” which argues that the field of CS education can use abolitionist pedagogical practices to move from focusing on access to focusing on the full humanity of students.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

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00:00 Intro

00:29 Abstract

01:20 My single sentence summary

02:15 Paper introduction

03:37 Theoretical framework

09:14 Methods

09:35 Results

15:29 Lingering questions and thoughts

15:42 What other abolitionist practices are missing from this article that you might recommend?

16:14 How might these pedagogical practices inform how you consider other demographic categories besides race/ethnicity alone?

17:05 When is centering a demographic or genetic characteristic a form of axiological colonization?

19:20 Outro

In this interview with Grant Smith, we discuss the importance of continuing to learn from other educators, what informal and formal learning spaces can learn from each other, how COVID has impacted Grant’s teaching philosophy, our preferences for in-person or virtual professional development and classroom instruction, lessons learned from entrepreneurial adventures in CS education, learning by jumping in and trying new things, heuristic-based learning, and so much more.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

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00:00 Intro

01:36 Grant introducing himself

02:19 Grant's journey through CS education

06:06 Something about education that Grant no longer believes

07:18 Advice on education that resonated with Grant

07:58 What's an ideal learning environment look like?

12:54 How informal and formal learning inform each approach

17:29 How Grant's philosophy of education has changed over time

21:56 What entrepreneurial journeys in education have taught Grant

27:53 What's holding back educators and what can we do about it?

29:25 How Grant iterates on his abilities

31:49 How Grant prevents burnout

33:14 Recommendations for improving equity and inclusion

33:35 What Grant wishes there was more research on

35:34 Something Grant could use help with from a listener

37:26 Heuristic-based learning

43:22 How to connect with Grant

43:51 Outro