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Abstract
This dissertation study explores the design and implementation of a culturally responsive computing (CRC)-informed early childhood computer science (CS) education for young children, aged four to six, from Korean immigrant families. This study aimed to investigate the application of CRC tenets in early childhood CS education and to develop context-specific insights that can guide future research and practice. Using design-based research (DBR), I conducted three iterative cycles of CRC-informed digital storytelling (DST) workshops using ScratchJr, an introductory programming tool, to facilitate children’s identity exploration and expression through programming. I collected various data sources, including workshop lesson plans, pre- and post-workshop interviews with children and their parents, video recordings of the workshops, children’s ScratchJr screen recordings, children’s digital stories and drawings, and the researcher’s reflective journals. Data analysis involved multiple methods: microanalysis of video data (Graue & Walsh, 1998), Bakhtinian generous reading (Tobin, 2000), and Saldaña’s (2015) first- and second-cycle coding methods. This dissertation consists of three manuscripts to respond each research question. The first manuscript (Chapter 2) examines the first cycle of CRC-informed DST workshops, focusing on moments that provided insights for future workshop design improvement. This chapter highlights the importance of addressing educators’ assumptions about their learners and recognizing the agentic role of technology in shaping children’s learning experiences. The second manuscript (Chapter 3) delves into the programming experiences of two focal children, Ara and Suho, during the second and third DST workshops. Using Bakhtin’s (1981) notion of ideological becoming, the chapter illustrates how young children from Korean immigrant families navigate and remix authoritative discourses from ScratchJr and their surroundings to express their identities. The third manuscript (Chapter 4) investigates the iterative DBR process across all three cycles of CRC-informed DST workshops. This chapter examines both the challenges I encountered and the revisions I made in response to feedback from participating children and their families. Based on these findings, I discuss several implications for CRC-informed practice and early childhood CS research.