Treffer: Supporting Black Girls' Creativity as They Learn to Code Virtual Environments

This mixed methods study examines the creativity of Black girls as they learned to code virtual environments in an afterschool program. The afterschool program, West Philly Tech Camp/Black Girls in Computing was a nine-week program in which students learned to code a virtual chatbot using Python. The program's design was guided by culturally responsive computing (CRC) and Black feminist theory. Creativity was operationalized using the collect, analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and employ (CASEE) framework. Participants were encouraged to integrate their personal experience and background into their projects. Similar to prior studies, participants learned the basics of coding during the first three weeks of the program with block coding then transitioned to Python. However, the students also learned about Python alongside the block codes. Next, they were encouraged to integrate their personal and cultural backgrounds into the design of their virtual chatbots. The participants completed this study with knowledge about computing careers and a basic understanding of Python. The purpose of this study was not to convince the students to become computer scientists, but to empower them to become producers of technology. The findings of this dissertation add to existing creativity literature, as there is a dearth of research regarding Black creativity. The results revealed the methods Black girls engage in creativity as they create virtual chatbots. Data was analyzed using Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) to capture and examine the participants' nuances while they developed their virtual chatbots. During the program, participants utilized their resources, including their peers, instructor, and the online webtool, to debug their code. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

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