We aim to understand and work to remove the barriers to computing education, including the factors obstructing young people’s engagement and progression in computing as a subject and career.
Culturally adapted computing resources for primary schools (July 2022 – July 2023)
With this research study, we built on our previous work in culturally relevant pedagogy to support UK teachers in adapting Computing lessons to the cultural context of their learners. This study was funded by Cognizant.
Bringing culturally responsive teaching to K-12 computing education (January – December 2022)
The underrepresentation of certain groups in computing has led to increasing efforts to develop computing education that is responsive and relevant to a more diverse group of learners. This one-year research project, funded by Google, set out to investigate ways in which computing teachers in the UK could adapt their teaching to be more culturally responsive.
Developing criteria for K-12 learning resources in computer science that challenge stereotypes and promote diversity (Nov 2020 – Aug 2021)
With funding by ACM SIGCSE, we established a working group of teachers and academics. The working group met up over the course of three months to explore and discuss culturally relevant pedagogy. The result was a collaboratively written set of guidelines for culturally relevant and responsive teaching.
Raspberry Pi Computing Education Research Centre (2023). Bringing culturally responsive teaching to K-12 computing education. Project Report. Available at: http://computingeducationresearch.org/crp_report_2023
Leonard, H., Kirby, D., Sentance, S., Chinaka, L., Deutsch, M., Dimitriadi, Y., & Goode, J. (2021). Culturally relevant and responsive computing: A guide for curriculum design and teaching. Raspberry Pi Foundation.
Leonard, H. C., & Sentance, S. (2021). Culturally-relevant and responsive pedagogy in computing: A Quick Scoping Review. International Journal of Computer Science Education in Schools, 5(2), 3-13. https://doi.org/10.21585/ijcses.v5i2.130
Leonard, H. C., Kirby, D., Sentance, S., Chinaka, L., Deutsch, M., Dimitriadi, Y., & Goode, J. (2021). Localising culturally responsive computing teaching to an English context: developing teacher guidelines. In Understanding Computing Education (Vol 2): Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Proceedings of the Raspberry Pi Foundation Research Seminars (pp. 56-62). rpf.io/seminar-proceedings-vol-2-leonard-et-al
Leonard, H. C., Quinlan, O., & Sentance, S. (2021, September). Female pupils’ attitudes to computing in early adolescence. In United Kingdom and Ireland Computing Education Research conference. (pp. 1-6). https://doi.org/10.1145/3481282.3481289
Kunkeler, T. & Leonard, H.C. (2021). Computing skills, beliefs and identities in young people from underserved communities. In 2021 Conference on Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT), 1–5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/RESPECT51740.2021.9620547
Leonard, H. C. & Kunkeler, T. (2021). Why the ‘digital divide’ does not stop at access. In Understanding Computing Education (Vol 2): Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Proceedings of the Raspberry Pi Foundation Research Seminars. Available at: http://rpf.io/seminar-proceedings-vol-2-leonard-kunkeler