Code to Cope: Supporting Self-Care by Integrating Creative Coding and Coping Mechanisms

Hye Yeon Nam, Andrew M. Webb, Raymond Tucker, Brendan Harmon

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Code to Cope is a STEAM curriculum for young adults designed to teach, develop, and encourage coping mechanisms while learning programming with JavaScript. COVID-19 restrictions, such as social distancing and remote learning, disrupted social development and identity formation in young adults, exacerbating mental health issues that remain unaddressed in existing STEAM curriculum. Young adults are vulnerable to psychological distress that adversely affects educational experiences and career path choices. The Code to Cope curriculum was adopted by the creative coding course at Louisiana State University from 2021 to 2022. We conducted interviews with four students in 2021 and empirical studies with 34 students in 2022 to evaluate the effects of the curriculum in terms of code, coping, and creativity. The results of the study show that the Code to Cope curriculum effectively teaches computational thinking, develops self-care practices, and engages and motivates students.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationC and C 2023 - Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages162-170
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9781450383769
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 19 2023
Externally publishedYes
Event15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition, C and C 2023 - Virtual, Online
Duration: Jun 19 2023Jun 21 2023

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition, C and C 2023
CityVirtual, Online
Period6/19/236/21/23

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Software

Keywords

  • Code to cope
  • coping mechanisms
  • creative coding
  • self-care
  • STEAM education

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