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Notes

The essential question is whether text-based programming might not be a better way to teach CS. So many interventions have focused on the tools, on improving the interfaces; they assumed that the problem was cognitive. However, we now have lots of evidence that the problems are situated and critical: it’s that CS is for white people and for men.

There are plenty of projects meant to broaden the intake tube for the pipeline. They don’t tend to focus on innovations in programming language interfaces which are aligned with this. Instead, they focus on pedagogy and learning environments: inclusive.

I propose to use text-based programming as a way of bridging existing literacies. Following the idea of theory dialogue, this is actually a moving-toward rigorous CS concepts, but harnessing already-meaningful worlds to do so. I want the interface to actively support connecting across literacies, with tools for telling stories in the media worlds youth live in. The first research question is whether text-based programming can support teaching and learning as effectively as block-based. I think it’s pretty hard to do a comparative study because the media connect so differently to other practices. A second major research question is the extent to which the latent computational structures in everyday life and in technosocial situations can be harnessed as effective learning opportunities. Third is the kinds of practices which support moving across literacies. Does it help to read other peoples’ stories?

At the same time, this has the potential to produce many different kinds of CS, many different kinds of CS identities, of weaving CS into all kinds of different cultural practices.

One side benefit of this is that it will support me in standing up a comptuational education lab.