Publications and References

Personally Relevant Everyday Computational Empowerment for the Mobile-first Children in the Indian Context

In a special issue on Pushing the Boundaries of Computational Empowerment of Children

This work advances the discourse on Computational Empowerment (CE) by foregrounding the experiences of underrepresented students in India, many of whom have limited personal devices or login access, highlighting a unique technological landscape. Within this context, we seek to extend CE as "Everyday Computational Empowerment", a profoundly personal democratic view of empowerment relevant to the everyday lived experiences of these young learners in the computational world that surrounds them. Designing technologies, applications, and learning experiences for empowerment must consider these contextual constraints. To this end, we advocate for mobile-first, low-barrier entry points that focus on children’s self-view and world-view and their competence in everyday interactions, empowering new generations to understand digital technology and its consequences for individuals, communities, and society at large, thereby enabling a more inclusive and context-sensitive approach to CE.

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Work in Progress at Interaction Design and Children 2025

Title: How Middle-school Students in India Take Charge of Everyday Interactions in Ubiquitous Computing

Abstract: 

Ubiquitous computing has led to inevitable interactions with computing technologies in individuals’ everyday lives in the modern era of computing. These technology interactions are becoming increasingly invisible and intrusive in daily life. To navigate this computational landscape with agency, individuals take charge of their interactions in various ways. This form of engagement is inherently democratic, enabling individuals to cultivate a first-person, autonomous experience of computational technologies, free from apprehension or uncertainty. However, the characteristics of ubiquitous computing interactions can overwhelm children in urban Indian contexts who have limited exposure to technology interaction contexts. The authors of this Work-in-Progress (WiP) present AuthentiCT, a playground that emulates everyday computational interactions designed for urban Indian students in grades 7-8 (ages 11–14). AuthentiCT provides a structured space where students engage in everyday activities using computational objects, ultimately leading to the creation of a design project through three phases—Explore, Solve, and Evolve. This WiP submission outlines the research study plan. The authors anticipate that the study will offer insights into how learners from this context navigate everyday interactions through different dimensions of empowerment to take charge in AuthentiCT environment, along with the challenges they encounter.

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Dindler, C., Smith, R., & Iversen, O. S. (2020). Computational empowerment: participatory design in education. CoDesign, 16(1), 66-80.

Dindler, C., Iversen, O. S., Caspersen, M. E., & Smith, R. C. (2022). Computational empowerment. Computational Thinking Education in K–12: Artificial Intelligence Literacy and Physical Computing, 121-139.

Dindler, C., Iversen, O. S., Hjorth, M., Smith, R. C., & Nielsen, H. D. (2023). DORIT: An analytical model for computational empowerment in K-9 education. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 37, 100599.

Schelhowe, H. (2013). Digital realities, physical action and deep learning-FabLabs as educational environments. FabLab: of machines, makers and inventors, 2013, 93-103.

Schneider, H., Eiband, M., Ullrich, D., & Butz, A. (2018, April). Empowerment in HCI-A survey and framework. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14).

Schulte, C., & Budde, L. (2018, November). A Framework for Computing Education: Hybrid Interaction System: The need for a bigger picture in computing education. In Proceedings of the 18th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research (pp. 1-10).

Thomas, K. W., & Velthouse, B. A. (1990). Cognitive elements of empowerment: An “interpretive” model of intrinsic task motivation. Academy of management review, 15(4), 666-681.

Tissenbaum, M., Sheldon, J., Seop, L., Lee, C. H., & Lao, N. (2017, April). Critical computational empowerment: Engaging youth as shapers of the digital future. In 2017 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON) (pp. 1705-1708). IEEE.

What We Talk About When We Talk About K-12 Computing Education

Abstract: K-12 computing education research is a rapidly growing field of research, both driven by and driving the implementation of computing as a school and extra-curricular subject globally. In the context of discipline-based education research, it is a new and emerging f ield, drawing on areas such as mathematics and science education research for inspiration and theoretical bases. The urgency around investigating effective teaching and learning in computing in school alongside broadening participation has led to much of the field being focused on empirical research. Less attention has been paid to the underlying philosophical assumptions informing the discipline, which might include a critical examination of the rationale for K-12 computing education, its goals and perspectives, and associated inherent values and beliefs. In this working group, we conducted an analysis of the implicit and hidden values, perspectives and goals underpinning computing education at school in order to shed light on the question of what we are talking about when we talk about K-12 computing education. To do this we used a multi-faceted approach to identify implicit rationales for K-12 computing education and examine what these might mean for the implemented curriculum. Methods used include both traditional and natural language processing techniques for examining relevant literature, alongside an examination of the theoretical literature relating to education theory. As a result we identified four traditions for K-12 computing education: algorithmic, design-making, scientific and societal. From this we have developed a framework for the exemplification of these traditions, alongside several potential use cases. We suggest that while this work may provoke some discussion and debate, it will help researchers and others to identify and express the rationales they draw on with respect to computing education.

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Title: AuthentiCT: Making CT Authentic to Learners

Abstract: 

Novice learners initiating Computational Thinking (CT) face challenges of complexity and have a longer learning curve to understand the interfaces and their usage. The problems to solve in an introductory CS lesson are seldom situated in the learners' familiar contexts. In order to make CT authentic to learners, the environment AuthentiCT has been designed with activities rooted in learners' everyday tasks so that CT skills become meaningful and familiar to acquire and practice. A study conducted with 16 middle-schoolers performing AuthentiCT activities showed that learners found CT relevant and applied problem solving in similar contexts in their day-to-day lives. 

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International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE) 2022 (Link to Proceedings)

S. Satavlekar, S. Mishra, S. Iyer, “Multiple Solution Pathways of Learners’ Embodied Problem-solving Processes in Designing Authentic Computational Tasks" 

Abstract:

When undergraduate students engage with computational thinking (CT) activities that are authentic to them, it adds not only meaning to their problem-solving actions but also a variation to their strategies and mechanisms applied during problem-solving, termed here as learners’ embodied processes. Through the perspective of designing for embodied cognition, maintaining such possibilities for variation in solution pathways could be the key to making problem-solving authentic to the learners. Using the 4E cognition narratives of two undergraduate Arts learner’s pathways in solving computational tasks in an authentic setting, we speculate that such multiple solution pathways need to be evaluated in pilot studies for the density of significant actions during problem-solving to prioritize the actions that show spaces which require the design of embodied scaffolds. 

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International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE) 2021 (Link to proceedings)

S. Satavlekar, S. Mishra, A. Raina, S. Iyer, “Programming-RIO: Initiating Individuals into Computational Thinking using Real-world IoT Objects”

Abstract: 

The paper aims at developing a better understanding of how interactions with the platforms like IFTTT or Alexa Routines that help in configuring complex if-then-else behaviors of real-world Internet-of-Things Objects (RIO) can help in supporting students’ learning of computational thinking (CT). We call these platforms “Programing-RIO platforms”. We aim at devising pedagogies around these platforms and the IoT devices to introduce CT to the novice students. With the broader research objective of exploring the impact of Programming-RIO on participants’ problem solving with computational tools, our specific research objective is to explore participants’ computational problem-solving process when they design automation solutions using IoT objects in the real world, using platforms like IFTTT, Google Home app, and Alexa app. Embodied narratives of computational thinking illustrated by the learner’s entangled actions and thought processes during the pilot study have been presented in an effort to initiate the learners into computational thinking.

Satavlekar, S., Nath, D., Priyadarshini, R., Prasad, P., Singh, D. K., & Rajendran, R. (2021, July). Unraveling Learner Interaction Strategies in VeriSIM for Software Design Diagrams. In 2021 International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT) (pp. 308-310). IEEE.

Abstract:

In the past, unraveling learner interaction data in TELE was a challenge. However, the advent of LA has helped in uncovering latent information in log data to scaffold learning. This paper focuses on learner interaction in VeriSIM, a TELE, to teach software design diagrams. The learners' performance in the system is used to categorize them into three groups, namely, "full scorers", "partial scorers", and "give uppers". Our analysis found that the full scorers spend a significantly higher duration per action than the give-uppers in an introductory challenge presented in the learning environment. Further analysis unravels the strategies used by consistent and inconsistent learners, and it was observed that the learner interaction strategies evolve with increasing difficulty levels as they navigate through the challenges.