Guided participatory research on parallel computer architectures for k-12 students through a narrative approach

The approach to computer science (CS) education is typically geared towards the knowledge of the principles behind information technology, but there are social indicators that it overlooks some important educative aspects such as thinking competences and social attitudes. Such aspects play a fundamental role when bringing CS education to the K-12 level. In order to enable a truly educational experience, we propose to bring specific CS research problems within reach of K-12 students, because the active knowledge construction process that takes place during research requires children to be engaged with all of their knowledge, skills and attitudes. This poses the challenge of overcoming the knowledge gap of students, which we address by means of a synergistic cooperation of CS experts and educators. More specifically, we propose the narrative approach as the key enabler for CS participatory research with K-12 students.