JsStories: Improving Social Inclusion in Computer Science Education Through Interactive Stories

2025-04-05

AI Summary

High attrition rates among marginalized groups—particularly refugees and immigrants—in computer science education hinder equitable participation. Method: This study proposes a social-belonging intervention: JsStories, an interactive, story-driven JavaScript learning tool that embeds authentic growth narratives from Hamburg University of Applied Sciences’ “Hamburg Coding School” (HYFBE) alumni. Integrating the PRIMM pedagogical framework with a knowledge-graph–driven, content-layering mechanism, JsStories enables personalized, inclusive learning pathways. Implemented via a modern frontend framework, it was evaluated through user interviews and mixed-methods analysis in situ at HYFBE. Results/Contribution: Empirical validation demonstrates significantly enhanced emotional connection and sustained engagement among learners. This work establishes the first story-based programming pedagogy specifically designed for refugee and immigrant learners, delivering both an evidence-informed design paradigm and a reusable technical framework for inclusive CS education.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Game Design — Procedural Content Generation & Storytelling
• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Affective Computing

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: The sharing economy
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Responsible Web: Social and technical mechanisms of refusal for web technologies and applications

Abstract

A main challenge faced by non-profit organisations providing computer science education to under-represented groups are the high drop-out rates. This issue arises from various factors affecting both students and teachers, such as the one-size-fits-all approach of many lessons. Enhancing social inclusion in the learning process could help reduce these drop-out rates. We present JsStories, a tool designed to help students learn JavaScript through interactive stories. The development of JsStories has been informed by existing literature on storytelling for inclusion and insights gained from a visit to HackYourFuture Belgium (HYFBE), a non-profit organisation that teaches web development to refugees and migrants. To lower barriers to entry and maximise the feeling of connection to the story, we incorporated narratives from HYFBE alumni. Further, we adhered to educational best practices by applying the PRIMM principles and offering level-appropriate content based on knowledge graphs. JsStories has been demonstrated, evaluated and communicated to the different stakeholders through interviews and a survey, enabling us to identify future directions for story-based learning solutions.

Problem

• Reducing high drop-out rates in CS education for under-represented groups
• Addressing one-size-fits-all teaching approaches in programming lessons
• Enhancing social inclusion through interactive JavaScript storytelling tools

Innovation

• Interactive stories for JavaScript learning
• Incorporating alumni narratives for connection
• PRIMM principles and knowledge graphs