BOARD # 345: Computer Science For All: Middle School Teachers' Perspectives on an Integrated Computer Science Unit

Kristin A Searle; Bolaji Ruth Bamidele; Michaela Harper

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session II
Tagged Topics: Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 7
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/55714

Paper Authors

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Kristin A Searle Utah State University

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Dr. Kristin A. Searle is an associate professor of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences at Utah State University. She received her Ph.D. in education and anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Her work focuses on how participating in making activities can broaden students’ sense of what computing is and who can do it, with a focus on the development of culturally responsive computing pedagogies. Her work has appeared in journals such as Harvard Educational Review and the British Journal of Educational Technology.

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Bolaji Ruth Bamidele Utah State University

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Bolaji Bamidele is currently pursuing her doctorate in the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences at Utah State University. She holds a BSc and an MSc in Sociology. Her research centers on identity, equity, informal science education, language socialization, and broadening participation in STEM education. Specifically, her work focuses on enhancing the participation and representation of Black girls in STEM by investigating science teaching and learning within counterspaces.

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Michaela Harper Utah State University orcid.org/0009-0007-5985-8676

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Michaela Harper is a doctoral student at Utah State University, pursuing a Ph.D. in Engineering Education. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies, focusing on STEM and non-traditional education approaches, and a Master's degree in Engineering Education, where she explored faculty perspectives on Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI). Michaela's current research delves deeply into the effects of disruptive technologies on engineering education, driven by her passion for uncovering the foundational nature of phenomena and applying an exploratory and explanatory approach to her studies. Her work aims to illuminate how technological advancements reshape educational landscapes through student and faculty engagement.

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Abstract

In kindergarten through eighth grade (K-8) in the United States, computer science is sometimes integrated into other content areas like social studies, science, and math rather than taught as a stand-alone subject. This integration can enrich disciplinary content learning while ensuring equitable access to computer science for all students. When computer science is integrated into disciplinary content areas in K-8, the demographics of students engaging with computer science contents typically reflect the demographics of the school, suggesting that K-8 is an important arena for reducing participation and identification gaps in computer science. However, most K-8 teachers have little to no exposure to computer science and, as a result, require curricula and professional development to support K-8 computer science integration in their classrooms. Here, we report on findings from our National Science Foundation Computer Science For All project focused on developing integrated computer science curricula for use with middle school students in Montana and Wyoming. Montana and Wyoming present an interesting context for developing and implementing integrated computer science curricula. First, computer science standards are relatively new in both states. Schools began implementing computer science standards in the last two years, meaning that most teachers had little to no experience with computer science at the outset of our project. Second, both states have an Indian Education For All (IEFA) requirement, meaning that all K-12 students must learn about the Indigenous peoples who call these states home. Integrating IEFA and computer science students presents a unique opportunity for developing integrated, culturally responsive-sustaining computer science curricula. We designed an integrated social studies unit and a computer science unit around the topic of food sovereignty for middle school students and their teachers. We also provided teachers with professional development around how to teach the two curricular units. Some teachers who attended the professional development sessions have already implemented the curriculum in their classrooms. In this paper, we first introduce the curricular units and then examine their strengths and challenges from the teachers' perspectives, based on their classroom implementation experiences. Drawing on multiple teacher interviews and fieldnotes, we examine teachers’ overall impressions of the curriculum, what they saw as strengths, and what they saw as challenges. This work contributes to our knowledge of K-8 computer science integration, particularly teacher perspectives on K-8 computer science integration.

Citation
Format

Searle, K. A., & Bamidele, B. R., & Harper, M. (2025, June), BOARD # 345: Computer Science For All: Middle School Teachers' Perspectives on an Integrated Computer Science Unit Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/55714

TY - CPAPER
AB - In kindergarten through eighth grade (K-8) in the United States, computer science is sometimes integrated into other content areas like social studies, science, and math rather than taught as a stand-alone subject. This integration can enrich disciplinary content learning while ensuring equitable access to computer science for all students. When computer science is integrated into disciplinary content areas in K-8, the demographics of students engaging with computer science contents typically reflect the demographics of the school, suggesting that K-8 is an important arena for reducing participation and identification gaps in computer science. However, most K-8 teachers have little to no exposure to computer science and, as a result, require curricula and professional development to support K-8 computer science integration in their classrooms.
Here, we report on findings from our National Science Foundation Computer Science For All project focused on developing integrated computer science curricula for use with middle school students in Montana and Wyoming. Montana and Wyoming present an interesting context for developing and implementing integrated computer science curricula. First, computer science standards are relatively new in both states. Schools began implementing computer science standards in the last two years, meaning that most teachers had little to no experience with computer science at the outset of our project. Second, both states have an Indian Education For All (IEFA) requirement, meaning that all K-12 students must learn about the Indigenous peoples who call these states home. Integrating IEFA and computer science students presents a unique opportunity for developing integrated, culturally responsive-sustaining computer science curricula.
We designed an integrated social studies unit and a computer science unit around the topic of food sovereignty for middle school students and their teachers. We also provided teachers with professional development around how to teach the two curricular units. Some teachers who attended the professional development sessions have already implemented the curriculum in their classrooms. In this paper, we first introduce the curricular units and then examine their strengths and challenges from the teachers&#39; perspectives, based on their classroom implementation experiences. Drawing on multiple teacher interviews and fieldnotes, we examine teachers’ overall impressions of the curriculum, what they saw as strengths, and what they saw as challenges. This work contributes to our knowledge of K-8 computer science integration, particularly teacher perspectives on K-8 computer science integration.

AU - Kristin A Searle
AU - Bolaji Ruth Bamidele
AU - Michaela Harper
CY - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DA - 2025/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - BOARD # 345: Computer Science For All: Middle School Teachers' Perspectives on an Integrated Computer Science Unit
UR - https://peer.asee.org/55714
ER -