Assistant Prof @ Illinois Siebel School Computer Science Education research. Let's bring CS to all & teach it well! https://www.kicunningham.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3mu6fxluf6c2hI'm delighted to share that my NSF CAREER proposal, "Teaching and Assessing Conversational Programming Skills," was awarded funding! 🎉28 Aug 2026 22:29 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu6fxluf6c2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3m5f3lbqkl224New blog post: Getting through a PhD winter: https://medium.com/@katieirenec/getting-through-a-phd-winter-c4ce49bd763b11 Nov 2025 21:32 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5f3lbqkl224https://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3m4invjsqsc2hMy colleague Gayithri Jayathirtha in the UIUC College of Education is accepting a doctoral student for the coming academic year. If you are interested in computing education research and have experience working with K-12 teachers or have been a teacher yourself, maybe it’s a fit for you!31 Oct 2025 14:13 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4invjsqsc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3lvnwwgn2nc2eThe NSF CISE directorate now has a Computing Education Research program! https://nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/computing-education-research Good news for every CER researcher who had to explain to their CS department head why they can't "just submit a Small"05 Aug 2025 14:41 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lvnwwgn2nc2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3lqlgxssa4s2qAn absolute hero. “You’ve got to, in your heart of hearts, believe that there’s nothing children can’t do with the right amount of access and opportunity and support. And you’ve got to convey that to the children and to their teachers and school leaders. That, in the end, is the North Star.” https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/behind-the-scenes-of-mississippis-school-turnaround-with-carey-wright01 Jun 2025 23:44 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lqlgxssa4s2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3lpowal4wwk2v!! [contains quote post or other embedded content]21 May 2025 15:30 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpowal4wwk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3lgz7ilj4ys2pNo one knows what might happen with the current administration and federally funded science. But it might be useful to consider Reagan's deep cuts of the Social Sciences in the early 1980s as possible precedent. https://journals.openedition.org/histoire-cnrs/54831 Jan 2025 04:56 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lgz7ilj4ys2phttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3ldo4w7sy5k23“For me, letting go of stereotype threat has been both humbling and liberating. It has forced me to recalibrate how I think about research, advocacy, and the stories we tell about human potential. It’s a reminder that science, at its best, is about progress, not protecting idols.” [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Dec 2024 14:55 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldo4w7sy5k23https://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3ldo46cop3c23“Extrinsic rewards can kickstart the internally rewarding learning process (motivation transformation).” [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Dec 2024 14:42 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldo46cop3c23https://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3ld6l6p6jk22xPostdoc opportunity in CSEd at Aalto: https://www.aalto.fi/en/open-positions/postdoctoral-researcher-position-in-advanced-student-modeling-and-tailored-large-language-models-for13 Dec 2024 10:28 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3ld6l6p6jk22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3lav2nebotk2vMidwest thoughts: I have so many questions about sump pumps14 Nov 2024 04:47 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lav2nebotk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3lana4tejek2dI'm recruiting a PhD student or two this cycle. If you're passionate about using research to improve computing education, maybe that's you. Learn more about my group here: https://medium.com/@katieirenec/opportunities-for-phd-students-in-computing-education-and-possibly-a-postdoc-too-51a69c55f2e7 (from 2022, but still accurate) and here: trailslab.web.illinois.edu11 Nov 2024 02:04 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lana4tejek2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3lana3aarmk2dI haven't found too much Computing Ed or Ed Psych chatter over here, but I'm curious to find out if it's around!11 Nov 2024 02:03 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lana3aarmk2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/katieirenec.bsky.social/post/3lan6ppcyc426Lab website! trailslab.web.illinois.edu http://trailslab.web.illinois.edu11 Nov 2024 01:39 +0000at://did:plc:o7ugqwbh32mliyzce3ptlho4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lan6ppcyc426