Five-step empathy interview exercise for teachers designing inclusive computing pathways¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article lays out a structured exercise teachers complete before designing an inclusive computing pathway. It moves through five steps: "Step 0: Notice - Begin with yourself and your identity", "Step 1: Answer - Reflect on your own experiences before interviewing a student", "Step 2: Listen", "Step 3: Observe", and "Step 4: Reflect". The exercise is designed to surface students' real experiences and needs so lessons and curricula can be designed for those needs rather than for imagined users.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers give the exercise multiple sittings; the article states it "will take you a few sittings" to complete the self-reflection, conversation, and reflection phases.

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• K-12 teachers designing computer science and computational thinking pathways

Target Learning Goals¶

• Understanding students' computing experiences and needs to inform inclusive lesson and curriculum design

Related Strategies¶

• Conduct empathy interviews as story-based conversations in comfortable, student-chosen settings
• Conduct empathy interviews to understand user experiences with technology
• Use empathy interviews as a natural, informal conversation to uncover students' experiences, emotions, and unmet needs in mathematics learning

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Coenraad, M., Hodge, M., Ruiz, P., Mills, K., & Burke, Q. (2021). Empathy Interviews for Developing Inclusive Computing Pathways. Washington, D.C.: Center for Inclusive Innovation, Digital Promise. https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/liberatory-design-cards