Research
In my research, I try to understand how students work at the edges of formal computer science learning environments to create spaces where they can belong and succeed.
To do this, I focus on students' (sometimes unsanctioned and unorthodox) interactions with their peers and appropriations of technologies.
Key words: self-efficacy, belonging, identity, learning pathways, accessibility, and human computer interaction.
Some of my work includes:
- Investigating how interactions students have with peers and technology “to the side” of a main activity in their computer science classes contribute to learning and belonging.
- Identifying moments when students’ self-assess their ability while collaboratively programming.
- Understanding how why and how students break norms around AI use and the impacts this has on their learning identities.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Talk, Tech, and Togetherness: Ethnographic Insights into Siding in Introductory Undergraduate Computer Science
Kristin Fasiang, Melissa Chen, Darren Gergle, Eleanor O'RourkeICER 2026, Paper Link
Starting From Scratch Again and Again: Tracing the Origins of High Schoolers’ Negative Perceptions of Block-Based Programming.
Caryn Tran, Kristin Fasiang, Max Kanwal, Eleanor O'RourkeCHI 2026, ACM Digital Library
Exploring Student-Perceived Dimensions of Authenticity in High School Computer Science
Caryn Tran, Max Kanwal, Kristin Fasiang, Eleanor O'RourkeICER 2025, ACM Digital Library
The Interrelated Nature of Belonging and Self-Assessments in Computing Students' Decisions to Persist
Kristin Fasiang, Melissa Chen, Eleanor O'RourkeISLS 2025, ISLS Repository
Workshops Etc.
Situating Computing Students’ Self-Assessments of Ability in a Collaborative Programming Context
Kristin Fasiang, Melissa Chen, Eleanor O'RourkeICER 2026 Poster, Poster Link
Hello World: Grounding the Design of Generative AI in Learning Communities and Contexts with Sociocultural Theories
Kristin Fasiang*, Melissa Chen*, Eleanor O'RourkeCHI 2026 Workshop: Understanding and Engaging Critical Resistance to AI in Education, Paper Link
Large Language Madlibs Model AI Assignment
Kristin Fasiang, Duri LongEAAI 2025, Model AI Assignments