Date of Award

2022

Access Restriction

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctorate in Education

Department

Education

School or College

School of Education

First Advisor

Elizabeth C. Reilly

Second Advisor

Philip Molebash

Third Advisor

Peter J. Rich

Abstract

Traditional pedagogy offers students opportunities to enhance various skills and acquire content knowledge; however, additional steps can be taken to enhance student achievement, prepare them for future occupations, and bridge the divide in access to technology. A curriculum that integrates coding instruction affords students the opportunity to augment their collaboration, communication, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills. This is especially crucial for traditionally marginalized populations who have experienced inequitable access to technology. Nevertheless, coding is not integrated in schools in different domains, including Catholic institutions in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (ADLA).

This dissertation used a descriptive and inferential quantitative methodology to survey K–12 Catholic school teachers’, administrators’, and STEM directors’ understanding of what coding entails, assess their perceptions of coding’s potential to enrich student achievement, to prepare them for future occupations, and diversify STEM representation both in academics and in the workplace, and evaluate the potential link between educator epistemology and pedagogy with the penchant to incorporate coding instruction and the constructionist framework in the classroom.

The largest diocese of the country, the ADLA, was the sole focus of this study and the data demonstrated participants have a relatively limited understanding of what coding entails, but they do believe it results in various benefits for students. Nevertheless, their epistemology and pedagogy are not ripe for constructionism to take hold in the classroom to facilitate coding.

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