Defining a "computer Science Person" and the Pedagogical Practices Supporting Positive Identification for Minoritized Youth

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between high school students' shifting computer science (CS) identity and engagement over the course of one school year in both Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles and Exploring Computer Science classrooms in a large US west coast urban school district. Through an analysis of over 500 pre- and post-surveys administered during the 2018-19 school year-with an intersectional analysis comparing Latina and Latino perspectives in this primarily low-income, Latino/a/x school district-this paper answers the following research questions: (1) Who identifies as "CS people"and what does that mean to them? and (2) Which teaching practices seem to have the greatest relationship with CS identification and engagement?