你好Ní Hǎo!/Hello!
My name is Xinyue Zhou (pronounced Sheen Yo-eh Joe), but I also go by Kiera. I am a second-year PhD student in the Educational Psychology and Educational Technology program at the College of Education. My research focuses on computer science education and the role of games in the learning process. Specifically, I am interested in computational thinking (CT) and its potential to enhance computer science (CS) education for non-major students and in informal settings for K-12 students. My goal is to bridge design and research gaps and promote equity in computer science education by increasing representation, discussing stereotypes, encouraging cross-cultural solidarity, and showcasing the application of CT across various fields beyond traditional CS classrooms. I am also interested in how design thinking and creativity manifest in CT activities. Specifically, I look at what aspects of CT will enhance learners’ creative output, and how design thinking can also be derived from computational thinking.
Currently, I’m working on my practicum, a milestone that requires conducting an independent empirical study. For this project, I’m designing and studying a culturally situated computer science learning experience that connects Chinese traditional motifs design with computational thinking. Using a design-based research (DBR) approach, I’m creating and testing a curriculum in CSnap. In this block-based programming environment developed by Berkeley, students generate cultural motifs while learning about their historical and cultural significance. This work contributes to the Culturally Situated Design Tools (CSDT) project, an NSF-funded online collection of ethnocomputing projects, which promotes non-Western approaches to CS education. I was invited to help bridge a gap in the platform by incorporating Asian cultural perspectives.
During my master’s degree in Instructional Design, my work surrounds front-end development, instructional design, and developing educational games. Specifically, I designed curriculum modules where students programmed traditional Chinese window patterns using TurtleArt, a visual programming web tool, and then created wood-board lanterns from these patterns using laser cutting. This approach successfully integrated cultural identity into a visible and hands-on experience of computational learning. This project helped set the foundation for my interest in incorporating hands-on making together with learning CT with digital tools.
With funding from my department, Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education (CEPSE), I am expanding this work by systematically developing a curriculum centered around Chinese window patterns from both Han and minority ethnic communities. This initiative addresses the homogenization of Chinese culture often present in education and challenges anti-Asian bias by highlighting the artistic and mathematical contributions of diverse Chinese groups. Through this work, I seek to uncover how marginalized heritage forms carry embedded computational principles and how showcasing these forms can reshape learners’ sense of belonging, foster creative engagement, and enhance cultural awareness in computing environments.
Building upon this curricular work, I will develop a digital heritage module focused on Chinese armor patterns, such as Mountain Pattern Armor, Chainmail, and Fish-Scale Armor. These culturally significant designs will be modeled using CSnap. Students will engage with computational concepts by coding these patterns, and they will extend their learning through hands-on fabrication using cardboard or 3D printing. The curriculum will also integrate relevant computing concepts and historical content.
This project aims to expand culturally responsive computing by centering both Han and minority Chinese traditions, challenging homogenized narratives, and making Asian contributions to design and logic more visible. Additionally, it seeks to engage demographics that are underrepresented in cultural computing by linking historical imagination with creative making.
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