Teachers’ Approaches to Mak(e)ing Computing Culturally Responsive: Electronic-Textiles in Exploring Computer Science Classes

This paper reports on a study of educators before, during and after they implemented a new curricular unit in their urban high school computer science classes. Building on and extending existing theoretical conceptions of culturally responsive computing, this qualitative study examined surveys, interviews, and weekly reflections from 17 computer science educators as they facilitated hands-on, project-based electronic-textiles lessons in their classrooms. The lessons were student-centered, open-ended, and semi-structured, in that students designed and constructed unique and personally meaningful computational artifacts using household tools and materials. Through a focus on the educators’ perceptions, reflections, and interpretations, we found that the activities encouraged educators to honor expertise not typically valued in computer science, to broker rich, authentic interactions with students in and outside of class, strengthen school-home connections, and to welcome and uplift students who had not felt successful in computing environments before. This study emphasizes how maker projects like e-textiles can support the development of culturally responsive educators to better guide meaningful and enduring learning experiences for diverse students in computer science.