These are the full descriptions of the CIRCLS’23 Roundtables.

Return to the CIRCLS’23 Agenda

Table Topics and Presenters

1. Equity-centered approaches for computing education and data literacy

Co-Creation as a Paradigm for Culturally-Responsive Computing Education
Angela Stewart

Robot technologies have been introduced to computing education to engage learners. This study introduces the concept of co-creation with a robot agent into culturally-responsive computing (CRC). Co-creation with computer agents has previously focused on creating external artifacts. Our work differs by making the robot agent itself the co-created product. Through participatory design activities, we positioned adolescent girls and an agentic social robot as co-creators of the robot’s identity. Taking a thematic analysis approach, we examined how girls embody the role of creator and co-creator in this space. We identified themes surrounding who has the power to make decisions, what decisions are made, and how to maintain social relationship. Our findings suggest that co-creation with robot technology is a promising implementation.

Technology and curriculum for fostering data literacy for Black youth
Rosta Farzan

Grounded in theories of data feminism and Black youth literacy, we have developed a framework and a tool to foster critical data literacy for youth from historically under-served communities. The work has centered a group of Black youth advisors in design of the tool and supporting curriculum. In this roundtable presentation, we hope to share about the process we have used, the framework and the tool we have developed, and the lessons we have learned, particularly from working with our youth advisors.

2. Leveraging AI for Lifelong Learning: Upskilling and Reskilling in Professional Development

Yeonji Jung, Sreecharan Sankaranarayanan

While the integration of AI into professional development offers unprecedented opportunities for individuals and organizations, there has been little scholarly investigation about the efficacy of these methods, and their applicability beyond a single organization or context. This roundtable session will initiate discussions on the transformative potential of AI in learners’ professional development, with a focus on upskilling and reskilling. We will explore various dimensions of applications, issues, and future prospects of AI in career development, career transitions, and credentialing, featuring a diverse panel of participants from academia, industry, technology platforms, and government. Specifically, we will delve into several key areas, including personalized learning paths, skill gap identification, content curation, recommender systems, and credentialing. Post setting the agenda by highlighting current work in this area by the panelists, we will seek a dynamic exchange of ideas, case studies, and future projections. As a lasting impact of the roundtable, we aim to create a network of interested researchers and practitioners, with the intent to create and share written artifacts such as a series of rapid community reports and position papers for publication.

3. Multimodal sensing and psychomotor measures for learning analytics and new skill acquisition in virtual and real settings

R. Leila Barmaki, Hengtao Tang, Hemalathaa Kasiviswanath Yuvaraja

In this interactive roundtable session, we’d like to invite you to engage in a thought-provoking conversation about emerging technologies centered on multimodal learning analytics and psychomotor assessments. We invite participants to explore how advanced technology, multimodal sensing, and innovative instructional design are shaping the future of learning analytics and skill acquisition in virtual and real-world settings, especially in collaborative contexts. Join us for an opportunity to exchange ideas, gain new perspectives, and contribute to the ongoing adaptation of education.

4. Enhancing Programming eTextbooks with ChatGPT Generated Counterfactual-Thinking-Inspired Questions

Arun Lekshmi-Narayanan, Keunjae Kim, God’salvation Oguibe

Digital textbooks have become an integral part of everyday learning tasks. In this work, we consider the use of digital textbooks for programming classes. Generally, students struggle with utilizing textbooks on programming to the maximum, with a possible reason being that the example programs provided as illustration of concepts in these textbooks don’t offer sufficient interactivity for students, and thereby not sufficiently motivating to explore or understand these programming examples better. In our work, we explore the idea of enhancing the navigability of intelligent textbooks with the use of “counterfactual” questions, to make students think critically about these programs and enhance possible program comprehension. Inspired from previous works on nudging students on counter factual thinking, we present the possibility to enhance digital textbooks with questions generated using GPT.

5. Data Science in K-12 Education

Andres Henriquez, Josephine Louie, Amy Stephens

The roundtable will be discussing the recently published National Academies report Foundations of Data Science for in K-12, highlighting the benefits and barriers of integrating data science in schools and classrooms. Join Andrés Henríquez, Director of STEM Education Strategy, EDC (Roundtable Chair), Amy Stephens, Study Director, Board on Science Education at the National Academy of Sciences and Josephine Louie, Senior Research Scientist and PI of Strengthening Data Literacy Across the Curriculum

6. Ensuring responsible integration of AI for practitioners and learners

AI Blueprint for Practitioners
Pati Ruiz, Michael Chang

This roundtable will discuss adapting the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights for educators.

AI EngagED: A Competency and Assessment Framework to Future-proof Learners and Educators
Christina Agvent

The growing importance of incorporating AI learning competencies into the K12 curriculum cannot be overstated. The advent of AI has opened a Pandora’s box of possibilities, pushing society into a new era where digital transformation forms the cornerstone of everyday life. AI is ever-present, extending from smart homes to autonomous vehicles, online retail to healthcare, and has revolutionized the way we live, learn, and work. In this rapidly evolving scenario, the call for education systems globally to equip learners and educators with AI competencies has never been more pressing. It is necessary to have educators and learners who possess a distinct set of skills and competencies to confidently, effectively, and ethically navigate this innovative educational terrain. Being well-versed in AI foundations, data literacy, AI-integrated curriculum development, among other competencies, equip teachers and students to optimize the usage of AI in their classrooms and in the global workforce. The AI EngagED Competency Framework provides district and school leaders with research-based competencies that are research-based and aligned with national and international standards to foster AI literacy in their schools, and also includes measurement methods and tools. The successful integration of the AI EngagED Competency Framework into education systems not only enriches the learning experience but also paves the way for a new generation of AI literate individuals, ready to thrive in the digital era. It sets a dynamic, forward-thinking approach to education, bridging the gap between traditional pedagogy and emerging technologies, and preparing learners and educators to be proactive, responsible, and innovative participants in an AI-driven world.

7. Addressing bias and marginalization in computing and emerging technologies

Black feminist epistemologies as critical frameworks for teaching and learning
Yolanda Rankin

While technology is positioned as the panacea that will save humanity, rarely do we consider the social implications of race, gender, class, and other social constructs that have contributed to the historical exclusion of marginalized populations in the field of computing. Consequently, technology reflects biases, stereotypes, and forms of oppression (e.g., racism, gender discrimination, classism) that continue to disadvantage marginalized populations. In this roundtable, I will discuss ways to address these shortcomings by leveraging critical social theories, specifically intersectionality and Black feminist thought, to center the experiences and amplify the voices of Black women in computing while engaging them in conceptualizing technology.

Gathering as a Design Process: Physical Prototyping for Culturally Sustaining Computational Technologies
Breanne Litts and Rogelio E. Cardona-Rivera

To address pressing issues of bias and black boxing embedded in technologies and their underlying computational models, scholars call for inventing and employing design processes that invite participation from those whose lives are shaped by these technologies. In response, we reimagine not only how technologies and their models are designed, but also who designs them. We present our work toward developing the concept of gathering as a design process that invites physical prototyping as an important mechanism in developing culturally sustaining technologies. Gathering is inspired by“Hui,” an‘O ̄lelo Hawai‘i Hawaiian language word translated as: to band together, assemble, organize. We share our ongoing journey of inventing and engaging in gathering and present four characteristics of gathering as a design process. Our work has implications for how we design new forms of technology toward more equitable futures, especially by making visible decision making and sensemaking that occurs throughout the design process.

8. Orchestrating classroom instruction using AI and tech-supported teacher tools

Orchestrating Mathematics Instruction for Teachers Using Co-Design and ML Approaches
Erin Ottmar

This project focuses on the design, development, and use of new algebra-focused teacher tools that use artificial intelligence (AI) to efficiently provide teachers with detailed information about their students’ math problem solving steps, behaviors, errors, and learning. The underlying hypothesis is that if teachers are given detailed information and feedback about their students perceptual and mathematical processes using real-time analytics, teachers will better notice and interpret student struggles. In turn, teachers will be able to make better decisions and differentiate their instruction for a broader range of students. I will present findings that show which behaviors best predict learning using log files generated from students solving problems from a variety of statistical and machine learning approaches. I will also describe the co-design process that our team is using to develop and prototype AI-supported teacher tools.

Writing Observer: Real-time Analysis of student writing.
Collin Lynch

Writing to learn is a foundational skill in all domains. Writing skills can be assessed via observation of students’ content but also of their writing processes. In this roundtable I will discuss our work on the development of Writing Observer, a platform to support instructors in monitoring and orchestrating students’ writing processes and for guiding collaborative and individual work. My goal in this roundtable will be to foster discussion and potential collaboration with other researchers who are interested in both writing instruction and classroom orchestration.

9. AI for supporting SEL and Noncognitive skill development

H. Chad Lane

This roundtable discussion will focus on leveraging digital learning environments and AI technologies for tracking, supporting, and promoting the development of Social and Emotional Learning and Noncognitive skill development in children. We will first discuss supporting research for SEL/NC-based educational approaches and then transition into a discussion of how technology-based learning as well as AI-based techniques can potentially be used to enhance important educational outcomes. The roundtable will also discuss new directions for learning sciences research that is needed for technology-enhanced SEL/NC development.

10. Leveraging generative AI to support CS student outcomes

Using AI in CS101
Lori Jacques

Tools such as ChatGPT allow novice programmers to quickly develop code, so how should we adapt an introductory programming course? Using pedagogy from math education research and how they adapted to technology, this roundtable will share and collaborate on lesson ideas, assessment ideas, and what AI-inclusion can reveal about students’ understanding of basic programming concepts.

Supporting data analysis students by means of generative AI
Marco Gerosa

We will present the results of our recent study and the research perspective on how to leverage generative AI to support data analysis students in implementing their solutions in Python.

11. Equity of AI in Higher Education (CFP: Special issue in the Journal of Computing in Higher Education)

Lin Lipsmeyer

We will focus our discussions on equity of artificial intelligence in higher education. The discussions will include how to define equitable human-AI partnerships, what humans should take away from these partnerships, and the role of higher education in the evolution of more equitable human-AI partnership. Participants in the discussions will also learn more about a call for papers in special issue on “Equity of AI in Higher Education” for the Journal of Computing in Higher Education.

12. Co-creating with AI-based engineering design tools

Learning to Collaborate with AI Design Tools
Nikolas Martelaro

AI-based design tools are proliferating in professional software to assist engineering and industrial designers in complex manufacturing and design tasks. These tools take on more agentic roles than traditional computer-aided design tools and are often portrayed as “co-creators.” In this presentation I would like to share a variety of work conducted under this grant to understand how people learn to collaborate with AI design tools. This will include engineers learning to work with AI CAD tools and illustrators learning to work with generative image systems. I hope to foster a discussion around the challenges and opportunities for developing new interactions to support people in learning to use these tools for productive work.

Teachers’ Perceptions of AI-supported Writing in the Engineering Design Process
Roxanne Moore, Gennie Mansi

This study uses teacher interviews to understand teachers’ perceptions around using artificial intelligence (AI) technology as a part high school engineering pedagogy.

13. LLMs in education: Promising use cases and ethical considerations

LLMs in Social Science and Humanities Research
Ryan Watkins

At this roundtable we will discuss the development of norms and standards for the use of LLMs in scientific workflows and in the reporting of research that utilizes LLMs in their methods. From creating synthetic data and using LLMs in qualitative analysis, to fuzzy joining of datasets and explaining code, there are many applications of LLMs in social science and humanities research. Now is the time for disciplines to begin developing scientific norms, standards, and ethical boundaries for how these tools are used in research workflows.

Separating the hype and reality of LLMs
John Stamper

ChatGPT and other large language models have brought AI to the forefront again and many people from researchers to politicians have weighed in on the implications for education. In this roundtable we will dive in deep to the promises and the reality of state of the art LLMs including GPT based models.

14. Using intelligent and agent-based systems to support collaboration and social learning

Teaching Collaborative Problem-Solving Skills Using Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Emmanuel Johnson

Students entering the modern workforce must possess more than technical abilities to be successful. They must know how to resolve conflicts and solve problems collaborative with managers and teammates. However, we find that acquiring these skills is costly, and there often don’t exist personalized solutions. Personalized learning systems such as Intelligent tutoring systems have made great strides in teaching technical skills, but we are still at the onset of training systems for interpersonal skills. In this talk, I will focus on my work in building AI systems to teach interpersonal skills that are critical to working in groups. I will discuss my work on developing intelligent tutoring techniques for teaching negotiation skills. I will begin by presenting models of negotiation that can be used by these intelligent tutoring systems to teach, as well as by agent-based systems that enable students to practice their skills. I will then highlight the metrics I’ve developed for assessing students’ negotiation abilities and show that these metrics can be used to provide personalized feedback. Next, I will demonstrate through user studies that this personalized feedback leads to improved outcomes for student negotiators. I will discuss potential applications and how I am leveraging the lessons learned from building AI systems to teach negotiation for a collection of other collaborative problem-solving skills.

Exploring Social Learning with Virtual and Real Pedagogical Agents as Learning Companions in Collaborative AR
Marjorie Zielke

We will present the results of our research on the topic of social learning in collaborative augmented reality (AR) with virtual and real pedagogical agents as learning companions.

15. Immersive and virtual environments for CS and CT learning

Immersive learning experiences for augmented reality-enhanced computational thinking education
Kyungbin Kwon

My team developed mixed-reality learning environments and examined the preliminary evidence of their effectiveness on students’ computational thinking (CT) learning. We also examined how multimodal data might reveal the immersive learning experiences the students had. We collaborated closely with two teachers from a local school to design engaging learning activities that leveraged the mixed-reality learning environments. This intervention involved a total of 47 students from first and second-grade classrooms over a four-day period of classroom activities. Additionally, the team extended their reach to a school situated in a rural area, broadening participation and implementing the learning environments in individual learning contexts.

The examination of learning outcomes indicated a significant improvement in CT skills and a positive attitude toward the learning environments. We are currently analyzing video recordings of students’ learning activities to understand how students interacted with the learning environments and how this interaction influenced their learning process from embodied learning perspectives.

At the conference, I will demonstrate the learning environment, discuss design principles embedded in it, and present findings related to student learning.

Designing the Embodied Coding Environment: A Platform Inspired by Educators and Learners
Ying Wu

How can researchers and engineers design successfully for diverse communities of CS learners? This roundtable discussion will examine how community engagement supported early ideation and later iterative design and field-testing work in the creation of a new spatial coding platform in virtual reality (VR). The Embodied Coding Environment (ECE) is a flow-based visual programming system for creative coding. It was created to increase sensorimotor engagement with programming, to lower the barrier of entry for novice programmers, and to scaffold the learning of computational concepts through physical metaphor and gestural interaction. Spatial representations of code, outputs of the code, and physical gestures are co-located in a virtual 3D space. The architecture of this system was informed by initial work with CS education partners, whose collective feedback revealed the importance of tools that support planning and critical thinking during the process of developing a computer program. This roundtable presentation will explore how community voices were translated into design features – with a focus on both challenges and triumphs revealed through field-testing and initial applications in classrooms settings.

16. AI in the context of Games for Learning

Magy Seif El-Nasr

There are many AI contributions within games for learning communities and domains. The roundtable will present and lead the discussion on AI systems used within Games for learning, including self-regulated learning systems, coaching, visualization, and assessment systems.

17. Mixed reality tools for neurodiversity

Zachary Alstad

There are a variety of new tools that could potentially help students who are struggling, including virtual and augmented reality. Even more capable tools in this space will allow for instant environmental changes that could be beneficial to students with sensory or cognitive issues that detract from their ability to engage. This talk follows current RETTL funded work to explore the potential benefits of these tools.

18. Connecting researchers and practitioners: Models for working together in educational settings

Program Design for pK-12 Education Research
Steve Coxon

Based on 25 years of work with high need public schools as a teacher, university center director, and researcher currently overseeing programs serving 2,000 students and their teachers annually, I will discuss program design conducive to research in educational settings with pK-12 teachers and students including pitfalls, past mistakes, and solutions.

Cracking the Code of Healthy Breakfasts: Unleashing the Power of Data Analytics in Packaged Food for Smart Student Choices
Matt Matilla

This is part of Arkansas Data Analytics Teacher Alliance, RET program at the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville that is NSF funded. Teachers like myself create a lesson plan based on our research that is data analytics focused through the guidance of mentors from the University of Arkansas engineering faculty. The research is to be conducted in the schools where each educator cohort member teaches. The research is performed during the school year and ends with a symposium in June.

19. Student-centered approaches to data science and math learning

Multifaceted Contextualization in Interdisciplinary Data Stories
Joseph Polman

I am interested in sharing work-in-progress from a middle school data science education effort. As part of the DRK-12 project “DataPBL: Contextualizing Data Education via Project-Based Learning,” a group of researchers, curriculum designers, and teachers are co-designing and testing interdisciplinary project-based curricula. Contextualizing data has been described as a key practice in data science/statistics education. Cobb & Moore (1997) famously noted, “Data are not just numbers, they are numbers with a context”; Rubin (2020) stressed consideration of questions such as “Who collected these data? When? Where? How? Why?” In our work on two curriculum modules—one on Epidemics and Life Expectancy and one on Lessons from Japanese American Internment—we have noted that contextualizing practices are essential—and slightly different—in science, social studies, and ELA. In interdisciplinary data stories, these varying contextualizing practices are blended. I will share ongoing analysis of how students analyzing and crafting data-informed accounts use various tools and hybrid practices within their projects put data in context across middle school science, social studies, humanities classes, dealing with issues such as constancy and change; intratextual and intertextual links involving datasets and other (multimodal) texts; and making sense of temporal factors, location, scale, and scope.

Learner-Centered Design
Caro Williams-Pierce

Dr. Caro Williams-Pierce, Dr. Beth Bonsignore, and Ms. Elana Blinder are developing a protocol for supporting children in designing their own ‘provocative objects’ that support mathematical play. We are viewing this as a merge between participatory co-design and radical constructivism as both value the child’s perspective (as a user and learner). We won’t have data yet, but we are excited to talk to others with expertise in these areas to refine our theoretical merge and research plans. In short, we’d love to discuss: what wonderful things can get designed when we ask math learners how they want to play with math?

20. Empowering emerging researchers: Fundamental skills, community connections, and agency

Eleanor Sayre

What do emerging researchers need? We explore issues of agency, self-efficacy, connections within the community, and institutional contexts to think carefully about what it means to build community and capacity outside of traditional graduate training programs.

21. Promoting student inquiry and reflection through AI-supported educational environments

Inquiry Intelligent Tutoring System (Inq-ITS) for real-time AI-based assessment and instruction
Janice Gobert

We will describe Inq-ITS and Inq-Blotter, which use patented AI to do real-time assessment, scaffolding, and alerting on science practices to support both middle school teachers and students.

Using Generative AI to Promote Reflection
Perry Samson

LearningClues, a spin-off from the University of Michigan, analyzes class videos to identify important concepts presented in each video. It then transmits these to participating students along with questions generated by AI from the video contents to encourage ongoing reflection.