Conducting Sound, Equity-Enabling Computing Education Research

Abstract

Problem. To investigate and identify promising practices in equitable K-12 and tertiary computer science (CS) education, the capacity for education researchers to conduct this research must be rapidly built globally. Simultaneously, concerns have arisen over the last few years about the quality of research that is being conducted and the lack of research that supports teaching all students computing. Research Question. Our research question for our study was: In what ways can existing research standards and practices inform methodologically sound, equity-enabling computing education research? Methodology. We conducted a concept analysis using existing research and various standards (e.g. European Educational Research Association, Australian Education Research Organisation, American Psychological Association). We then synthesised key features in the context of equity-focused K-12 computing education research. Findings. We present a set of guidelines for general research design that takes into account best practices across the standards that are infused with equity-enabling research practices. Implications. Our guidelines will directly impact future equitable computing education research by providing guidance on conducting high-quality research such that the findings can be aggregated and impact future policy with evidence-based results. Because we have crafted these guidelines to be broadly applicable across a variety of settings, we believe that they will be useful to researchers operating in a variety of contexts.