#CSK8 Podcast - A podcast for computer science educators

In this episode I unpack Kafai and Proctor’s (2021) publication titled “A revaluation of computational thinking in K–12 education: Moving toward computational literacies,” which summarizes three key framings of computational thinking and proposes computational literacies in place of computational thinking. Click here for this episode’s show notes. How to Get Started with Computer Science Education...

In this interview with Ashley Waring, we discuss Ashley’s experiences with integrating CS in the classroom, lessons learned providing professional development for new-to-CS educators, what Ashley learned helping write Alabama’s CS standards and providing support after the rollout, language and oppression in standards development, why focusing on a college degree as an end goal might not be as impo...

In this episode I unpack the report titled “2021 state of computer science education: accelerating action through advocacy,” which is an annual report on the state of K-12 CS in the United States that was authored by The Code.org Advocacy Coalition , Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) , and the Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance (ECEP) . Click here for this episode’s show no...

In this interview with Jorge Valenzuela, we discuss the importance of engineering in STEM, situating computational thinking within a problem, getting started with computational thinking and computer science, project-based learning, incorporating social and emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom, Jorge’s approach to professional development, and much more. Click here for this episode’s show note...

In this episode I unpack Flapan et al.’s (2021) publication titled “Preparing school leaders to advance equity in computer science education,” which provides some suggestions and resources for preparing administrators for advancing equity work in K-12 CS education. Click here for this episode’s show notes. How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Intro00:48 Abstract 0...

In this interview with Mitch Resnick, we discuss misconceptions people have around the four P’s (Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play) in Mitch’s book , encouraging depth of understanding while playing, what has surprised Mitch during his career, encouraging online communication and collaboration without creating artificial engagement, what Mitch wishes we’d see more of and discuss in CS education,...

In this episode I unpack Khalifa, Gooden, and Davis’ (2016) publication titled “Culturally responsive school leadership: A synthesis of the literature,” which summarizes and synthesizes literature on culturally responsive school leadership as it relates to principals in urban schools. Click here for this episode’s show notes. How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 I...

In this interview with Leigh Ann DeLyser, we discuss the purpose of CSforALL, considerations for leading people with different visions for (or interests in) CS education, the evolution and future direction of CS education, positive and negative corporate influence on education, thinking through equity from a systems perspective, and much more. Click here for this episode’s show notes. How to Get S...

In this episode I unpack Kafai et al.’s (2019) publication titled “Stitching the loop with electronic textiles: Promoting equity in high school students’ competencies and perceptions of computer science,” which explores the impact of an electronic textiles unit on high school students’ understandings of computer science. Click here for this episode’s show notes. How to Get Started with Computer Sc...

In this interview with Laura Discenza, we discuss advice for getting started with learning how to teach CS, speaking with arts educators about the intersections of the arts and CS, regularly incorporating the “20% free learning/creating time” into the school day through a “genius hour,” avoiding overly scaffolding learning in the classroom, the importance of having fun with CS in elementary school...

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 S...

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 Educa...

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 i...

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 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 0...

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 Scienc...

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...

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...

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 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Intro 00:46 Abstract 01:44...

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 ━━━━...

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 jum...

In this episode I unpack the Kapor Center’s (2021) publication titled “Culturally responsive-sustaining computer science education: A framework,” which describes multiple courses of action for six core components of culturally responsive-sustaining CS education. Click here for this episode’s show notes. How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Intro 01:11 Paper introd...

In this interview with Jean Ryoo, we discuss equity as an evolving idea, what an ideal CS class looks like, collaborating and learning through research-practitioner partnerships (RPPs), the importance of examining our own biases, the importance of community, working through burnout/depression/anxiety, helping students through depression and suicidal ideation, the problems with whitewashing in educ...

In this episode I unpack my (2020) publication titled “Applications of affinity space characteristics in music education,” which has twelve characteristics of informal learning spaces that I will discuss in relation to computer science education. Click here for this episode’s show notes . How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Intro 00:30 Abstract 01:56 Background 0...

In this interview with Dominick Sanders, we discuss the importance of connecting with and listening to students, the impact of being a positive role model for kids, considering equity for individuals and across the entire state of South Carolina, what Dominick learned through their experience with Xposure STEM, Dominick’s plan for improving CS in South Carolina, Dominick’s experience with CSTA’s E...

In this episode I unpack Bell’s (2021) publication titled “CS unplugged or coding classes? Perhaps a more appropriate question is ‘why not both’?,” which argues there’s value in doing both unplugged and coding lessons. Click here for this episode’s show notes. How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Intro 01:12 My single sentence summary 01:21 What are unplugged less...