Hi! I'm Carlos.
I'm curious about youth's sensemaking about computing technologies (like AI).
I study computer science education as a 1st-year Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Past work includes:
- Identifying the knowledge novice programmers bring into introductory computer science courses (thesis; advised by Dr. Tasha Frick);
- Surfacing design challenges in making a multilingual, accessible educational programming language (paper; supervised by Dr. Amy J. Ko);
- Surveying Ireland's educational technology industry (essay);
- Briefly investigating the efficacy of deep-learning techniques for predicting Bitcoin prices (news article);
- And media or software projects, like file compression programs or videogames.
As a researcher, I study how computing pedagogy can support youth's sensemaking of difficult concepts in computer science, such as AI or linked lists. My work explores:
- What prior knowledge do youth use to make sense of computing?
- How we can we support youth's conceptual understanding of computing?
- And how can computing knowledge empower youth in their everyday lives?
When thinking about these questions, I draw from prior work in computing education, science education, and the learning sciences. If you are interested in any of my prior work or current interests, please see my list of projects or email me!
Projects
Do Your Own Research: The 2021 Capitol Riots
Spring 2025
A content proposal for an interactive timeline of the 2021 U.S. Capitol riots supporting conservative or Republican ways of knowing, informed by survey and focus group research. Includes a prototype for the timeline.
Resonance: A Deck-building Game of Audience and Influence
Spring 2025
A tabletop, deck-building game about growing and engaging with online audiences as a political influencer, modeling real-world audience dynamics.
Wordplay: Accessible, Multilingual, Interactive Typography
Spring 2025
A research paper descibing and evaluating Wordplay, an multilingual, accessible, educational programming language. Presented at the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) 2025.
Qualifying Novices' Conceptual Resources in Computer Science I
Fall 2024
An undegraduate honors thesis describing the conceptions novice programmers possess and use in introductory computing classrooms.
Meal Manual
Fall 2023
A cookbook application to view, organize, and write recipes and related ingredients. Written in Java for Android platforms using Android Studio, SQLite, and the Spoonacular web API.
CSCI 4250 Project 4
Fall 2023
A 3D dungeon scene with textures, lighting, and animation. Written in JavaScript, GLSL, and HTML for modern web browsers using WebGL.
Irish Educational Technology: From Policy to Enterprise
Summer 2023
A series of short essays documenting and analyzing the educational technologies industry in Ireland. Integrated with spaced-repitition assessments to facilitate learning and retention.
Chat
Spring 2023
A terminal-based chat application with client and server implmentations leveraging thread-based concurrency and SQLite. Written in the Zig programming langauge.
Toy Huffman Encoder
Spring 2023
A commandline file compression application using tries and canonical Huffman codes. Written in the Zig programming language.
Relatively Simple Computer
Fall 2022
A 32-bit computer simulated in Logisim capable of running programs written in a 16-instruction assembly. Includes a program printing the Gray code representations of numbers.
Camus ECS
Spring 2022
An entity component system for organizing game logic in the LÖVE2D graphics framework. Written in Lua for the LuaJIT runtime.
Sokoclone
Fall 2021
A prototype for a sokoban videogame featuring an integrated, in-game level editor. Made in the LÖVE2D graphics framework with a prototype of Camus ECS.
Litargie
Spring 2021
A 2D, story-based platformer videogame. Made in Godot for the "Games for Change 2021 Student Challenge Competition" game jam.
Grapple Hike
Fall 2020
A 2D puzzle-platformer videogame. Made in Godot for the "Secret Santa Jam" game jam.
Air's End
Summer 2020
A top-down, turn-based rougelike videogame. Made in Godot for the "Summer Slow James June 20202: Turn-Based Games" game jam.
Down Down Dungeon
Summer 2020
A 2D platformer videogame. Made in Godot for the "GMTK Game Jam 2020" game jam.
See this site's sourcehut repository to view its source code and provide feedback. This site's code is modeled after that of Amy J. Ko's faculty website. Colorscheme is Flexoki by Steph Ango.