Design Studios for K-12 Computing Education

Following the decline of pupil engagement in compulsory computing education (K-12) in the UK, advocates have called for further research into computing-specific pedagogies. Aiming for an improvement in pupil engagement, the subsequent report explores the viability of the applied Design Studio approach in K-12 computing education. We report on two case studies involving two 12-week curricula co-developed and delivered between researchers and teachers for four Year 8 classes in a secondary school in England. Common to both case studies were the design brief, desk crit, design review, presentation and portfolio elements proposed by Koutsabasis et al, with the key difference being a change in scope and structure of the challenge presented to pupils. Our findings demonstrate the need for a well-structured, personalizable and challenge-driven Design Studio approach, which showed evidence of improved pupil resilience and confidence, while engaging reluctant pupils. We conclude with a proposed model for applying Design Studios in K-12 computing education, to support educators aiming to adopt project-driven computing pedagogy in the classroom.