Designing a Culturally Sustaining Computer Science Curriculum Integrated with Environmental Literacy through a Research-Practice Partnership.
This project details the co-design of a culturally sustaining computer science curriculum integrated with environmental literacy through a Research-Practice Partnership between university researchers and elementary school teachers. Targeting predominantly Latinx and multilingual communities, the initiative spans multiple years of iterative development and implementation. The goal is to foster computational thinking, data literacy, environmental awareness, and culturally relevant learning, while honoring community knowledge and addressing educational inequities.
“We can ask the students, what do you love about your neighborhood? ... Part of the project is why they are proud and what they imagine [City B] should have because they are proud.”
Researcher A
To build cohesion among collaborators, the team developed a shared language. Teachers initially offered definitions rooted in their classroom experiences, which researchers synthesized and refined. This collaborative negotiation of meaning supported mutual understanding of culturally responsive teaching and helped align goals for the curriculum’s direction.
Tensions arose around how to address inequities without reinforcing deficit narratives. Some educators expressed concern about unintentionally highlighting gaps in community knowledge or experience, prompting discussions on how to frame environmental issues in asset-based, empowering ways. The curriculum was modified to embed positive, solution-oriented content throughout.
The project emphasized equal power-sharing between researchers and teachers. Teachers’ practical insights, grounded in classroom realities, influenced curriculum design decisions, especially regarding feasibility, clarity of resources, and pedagogical approach. This reciprocal exchange led to stronger teacher-researcher relationships and a curriculum that was both relevant and implementable.
Students were encouraged to explore and celebrate what made their neighborhoods special, such as tree equity or environmental strengths, rather than focusing solely on deficits. Teachers proposed that students share their findings through digital media, advocating for change and showcasing what they love about their community. These actions positioned students as knowledge producers and civic participants.
Curriculum topics were selected for both global relevance and local specificity. Invasive species, for example, offered an ideal focus due to their local variability, allowing students to become experts in their own community’s ecosystems. Lessons were designed to adapt to the diverse cultural and geographic contexts of participating schools.
This work demonstrates how co-design grounded in culturally sustaining pedagogy and collective sensemaking can produce inclusive and contextually relevant STEM education. It exemplifies the value of Research-Practice Partnerships in empowering educators, leveraging diverse perspectives, and promoting academic equity.
“You may have noticed, this is a recurring pattern in our curriculum. We will first teach the students about an environmental topic. Then we will dive deeper into this topic and see how it is relevant to their community, to keep students engaged and invested. And finally, the students will turn their imaginations into reality with the power of computer science, creating creative projects that reinforce both their environmental science and computational knowledge.”
Brian Phan, AERA Annual Meeting, 2025