Restorying supports Black girls' identification of and resistance to dominant narratives in computing¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r2 · q1 · n=1 focal case (a 15-year-old Black girl) from a workshop of 15 youth (14 consenting), 11 of whom were interviewed
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

In a museum computing workshop using electronic quilting to enact womanist restorying, one Black girl explicitly deconstructed her group's dominant stereotype of computer scientists, designed a counter-narrative quilt patch centering a Black woman, and reported increased self-reported belonging and aspiration toward computing.

Subclaims¶

q1 i? A focal 15-year-old participant identified and named her group's dominant narrative of computer scientists ("old white men" who "code" and "know all technology"), and in a post-interview explicitly connected this pattern to a broader "danger of a single story," including her own experience never reading a children's book featuring a Black child until high school. → Shaw et al. 2023

q1 i? The same participant's group designed an interactive quilt patch depicting a Black woman computer scientist asserting competence against a skeptical supervisor, and she articulated aspirational, mentorship-oriented statements about teaching other students to "reverse the stereotypes" through computer science. → Shaw et al. 2023

q1 i? On an exit-ticket comparison, the focal participant reported positive affect ("fun," "interested," "conquerer") while two peers in the same workshop reported negative affect ("stressed," "overwhelmed"), and she stated in interview that the workshop "drew me closer to the field." → Shaw et al. 2023

Evidence¶

Shaw et al. 2023¶

Shaw, M. S., Coleman, J. J., Thomas, E. E., & Kafai, Y. B. (2023). Restorying a Black girl's future: Using womanist storytelling methodologies to reimagine dominant narratives in computing education. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 32(1), 52-75. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2023.2179847

q1 · revelatory single-case study (Yin, 2009), with two-coder constant comparative analysis (one insider, one outsider), drawn from a 15-youth after-school museum workshop; no comparison group or quantified measure · i? · the abstract prints no effect size; the full text may · n=1 focal case (a 15-year-old Black girl) from a workshop of 15 youth (14 consenting), 11 of whom were interviewed · qualitative · r2

Fifteen youth from marginalized groups participated in a 4-week, 8-hour after-school museum workshop using Restorying Computing Futures Through Electronic Quilting. The authors trace one focal participant's narrative work in depth: her explicit naming of the group's dominant "who is a computer scientist" stereotype, her group's design of a counter-narrative interactive quilt patch, and her self-reported shifts in affect and aspiration toward computing, drawing on Womanist Restorying as the theoretical frame.

Discussion¶

This is a single revelatory case (q1); it demonstrates that the restorying mechanism can produce documented identity and narrative work in at least one participant, not that it reliably does so across a class or population. There is no comparison condition, no quantified measure, and no longitudinal follow-up on whether the reported aspirational shift persisted or translated into later computing engagement. The contrast with two peers' negative exit-ticket affect in the same workshop is suggestive but based on a small, uncontrolled sample.

Learner Variables¶

• Gender — moderator: an instructional effect differs by group

Related Claims¶

• (none yet linked)
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