Leveraging Multilingual Students' Resources for Equitable Computer Science Instruction

Abstract

Few interventions in K-12 Computer Science (CS) education center on multilingual students who speak more than one language and may be learning English. Emerging research illustrates how multilingual students draw on a range of resources (e.g., cultural, linguistic, semiotic, and embodied) during CS learning activities. Instructional models that leverage these resources can open new possibilities for inclusive CS education. Panel presenters representing four projects working to integrate CS education into multilingual K-12 environments will highlight efforts demonstrating how multilingual students' resources, and educators' engagement with them, shape how these students participate in CS education. Each project positions these resources differently with respect to traditional schooling arrangements, CS content and practices, and language goals. This panel will explore those contrasts and the tensions they surface.