Two Practices, One Question
Most applicants separate research from curriculum design. I don't, because in my work they're the same activity: every course I design is a structural intervention, and every structural intervention is a research site I want to study. The question driving both sides is identical: what features of course design predict whether students seek help, persist, and develop belonging?
The Research
Four research questions organized around a single claim: structural features of introductory CS courses — not student ability — predict who seeks help, who persists, and who leaves. Methods: qualitative interviews (Seymour & Hunter replication), NLP analysis of course materials, learning analytics on LMS data, and computational tool-building for instructional auditing.
The Curriculum
A six-course curriculum framework for community college CS built on three principles: derive before compute, build before import, equity as design. Grounded in constructionism (Papert), productive failure (Kapur), self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan), and Jeff Anderson's antiracist learning science. Includes a signature project where students would build a working 8-bit computer on breadboards — encountering physics, linear algebra, and chemistry along the way.
Research Agenda at a Glance
Four research questions. Five empirical projects. One curriculum framework designed as the intervention side of the same question. Target venues: SIGCSE, ICER, EDM, LAK, Learning @ Scale.
Learning analytics · LMS logs · discussion-forum NLP. Addressed by P1: HelpMap.
Curriculum graph analysis · typed dependencies. Addressed by P4: CurriculumGraph.
Semi-structured interviews · grounded theory. Addressed by P3: Why They Left.
Annotation study · Cohen's κ ≥ 0.65 target. Addressed by P2: SyllabusAudit and P5: BelongingSignals.
Active Projects
Qualitative Research · Interview Study · Proposed
P3 · Why They Left: A Seymour & Hunter Replication at Community Colleges
Do the structural departure reasons documented at research universities replicate at community colleges? 20–30 semi-structured interviews with students who left STEM at Foothill. IRB protocol in preparation. This project produces the conceptual foundation the other four projects need.
NLP · Instructional Design · In Progress
P2 · SyllabusAudit: NLP-Based Structural Analysis of CS Course Materials
Can automated analysis of syllabi identify structural features associated with poor student outcomes? Corpus construction and annotation schema development underway. Targeting Learning @ Scale 2027.
Curriculum Design · Constructionism · Completed
Build a Computer from Scratch: A 20-Week Cross-STEM Signature Project
Teams of community college students build a working 8-bit breadboard computer from logic gates. Seven learning science principles. Explicit STEM bridges to five disciplines. Three-track agency system. Portfolio assessment with student-proposed grades. Grounded in Papert, Kapur, Kolb, Perkins & Salomon, and Jeff Anderson's antiracist learning science. This is the curriculum that the research aims to study.
See all five research projects →
Writing
Research Statement · March 2026
Structural Predictors of Help-Seeking and Departure in Introductory CS
Four research questions, theoretical grounding, methodological approach, and why this work requires doctoral training.
Draft · available on request · henry@henryfan.org
Teaching Philosophy · March 2026
Derive Before Compute: A Teaching Philosophy for Introductory CS at Community Colleges
Constructionism, productive failure, self-determination theory, and antiracist learning science — enacted through a three-track system, portfolio assessment, and hands-on construction.
Draft · available on request · henry@henryfan.org
Full reading list with 30+ annotated entries →
Applied Work
Research-informed designs for tools and platforms that operationalize the same structural equity principles that guide the research.