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Overlaying Computer Science (CS) courses on top of inequitable schooling systems will not move us toward "CS for All." This paper prioritizes the perspectives of minoritized students enrolled in high school CS classrooms across a large, urban school district in the Western United States, to help inform how CS can truly be for all. This paper explores what student agency looks like while answering the research question "From the perspective of minoritized students historically underrepresented in computing, what makes a critical difference in their sense of agency in introductory CS high school classes?" Our research-practice partnership used qualitative data (including classroom observations, interviews, student artifacts, and video/photos) and surveys to surface the perspectives and visions of minoritized youth. The research describes what student agency looks like as youth – who have had no prior CS learning experiences – use CS as a tool to resist marginalization and dehumanizing school contexts, while declaring their own "rightful presence" in CS classrooms. Findings demonstrate the importance for CS curricula and pedagogy to center the lives of students in ways that are consequential for minoritized youth. This would support deeper engagement with content learning and student agency with computing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines students' pre-college experience with computers. It finds significant gender differences in how students develop interest in computers; exposure to computers at home; availability of computers in high schools; and high-school preparations for college study in a computing field. The paper has a number of implications to improve the digital divide for women. It is based on 150 in-depth interviews of female and male undergraduate students, members of five major ethnic/racial groups (White, Afro-American, Hispanic, Asian American, and Native American) from seven institutions in the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In educational research, investigators in one field are often ignorant of similar research in other fields. Physics education in particular has undergone dramatic reforms in recent years, all based on insights gained from conducting educational research. Often, pedagogical methods resulting from research in one field can be revised and transferred to another. This paper demonstrates that many methods used in physics and other science programmes Throughout this paper, programme will refer to the curricular concept and program will refer to computer programs. can be adapted to teaching computer science. The author has pursued action research in computer science and implemented ideas from science education, especially from physics education, in teaching computer science classes at a small religious secondary school in the southwestern United States. This paper presents ideas and teaching strategies with the hope of building bridges between computer science education research and other science education research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has convened the yearly Conference on Computer Science Education in the Secondary Schools since 1995 to discuss and carry out a systematic study of issues facing computer science education in the state of New Jersey. The goal is to address the implications of these curricular issues, identify the obstacles to classroom implementation, and to make suggestions for possible solutions. The outcome of these conferences is a clear indication that a seamless articulation between high-school programs and those at university level is of critical importance for secondary school educators and could serve as the foundation for implementing a computer science curriculum in the schools. This paper reviews the current status of secondary schools computer science education in the state of New Jersey and discusses curriculum guidelines formulated by conference participants, themselves classroom teachers. This work, along with previous curriculum recommendations reported in the literature, is intended to serve as the stepping-stone towards establishing and promoting computer science as a recognized discipline in New Jersey's secondary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]