Leveraging Collective Impact Principles for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education through AiiCE
This paper examines how the Alliance for Interdisciplinary Innovation in Computing Education (AiiCE) partnership operationalized the eight Collective Impact Principles of Practice to advance identity-inclusive computing education. Identity-inclusive practices actively recognize and integrate students’ diverse identities into curricula, pedagogy, and institutional structures to promote more inclusive learning cultures. Principles were utilized to cultivate a learning culture and co-develop a common agenda during their formative stages, addressing persistent structural barriers in computer science (CS) education such as exclusionary curricula, biased departmental cultures, and inequitable data systems. The research employs a qualitative design, analyzing interviews with Steering Committee and Backbone members (N=8) alongside program documents (N=25) to trace the partnership’s application of core principles, such as equity-centered design, community inclusion, and data-driven adaptation, to embed identity-inclusive practices in CS education ecosystems. Findings reveal that the partnership’s success hinged on interdependent strategies: embedding structural accountability into its shared vision for computing education and fostering continuous learning through cross-sector collaboration and localized tools. Key innovations included governance design that center community voices in CS and a constellation model that facilitated knowledge exchange across CS research, policy, professional development, and curricula and pedagogy. However, limitations emerged, such as uneven leadership development. The study contributes to collective impact research by demonstrating how Principles of Practice can be integrated in cross-sector partnerships for CS education.
