Research

My goal as a researcher is to make formal CS classrooms more personally meaningful and approachable, especially for kids with limited personal connection to computing and technology.

My research is in Computer Science Education, focusing on personalizing and sustaining elementary and middle school CS curricula.

I study the decision-making process of teachers when adapting CS curricula to their own classrooms, and develop supporting resources that help them leverage their localized expertise to customize curricular materials to draw on the prior knowledge and cultural resources of their students and communities. Currently, I am exploring both static supports (metacognitive scaffolding and professional development), and dynamic supports (AI-powered thought partners and productivity tools).

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Selected Publications

More publications on Google Scholar
† denotes full papers ‡ denotes posters * denotes equal contribution

An Interactive Generative AI Tool to Help Teachers Contextually Customize Scratch Projects^‡
_{Minh Tran*, David Gonzalez-Maldonado*, Diana Franklin}
^{ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), 2026}

Can GPT Help? Supporting Teachers to Brainstorm Customized
Instructional Scratch Projects^†
_{Minh Tran, David Gonzalez-Maldonado, Elaine Zhou, Diana Franklin}
^{ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), 2025}

Harmonizing Scratch Encore: Scaffolding K-8 Teachers in
Customizing Culturally Responsive Computing Materials^†
_{Minh Tran, Heather Killen, Jen Palmer, David Weintrop, Diana Franklin}
^{ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), 2024}

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Teaching

Creating Computer Games for Learning
_{Position: Instructor of Record}
^{University of Chicago (Summer 2026, Pre-College Program)}

Computers for Learning
_{Position: Teaching Assistant / Co-Instructor | Instructor: Diana Franklin}
^{University of Chicago (Fall 2025)}

Design For Underserved and Marginalized Communities
_{Position: Teaching Assistant | Instructor: Marshini Chetty}
^{University of Chicago (Winter 2023)}

Object-Oriented Programming and Design
_{Position: Teaching Assistant | Instructor: Jonathan Misurda}
^{University of Arizona (Fall 2020; Spring 2021; Fall 2021)}

Algebra I/II, Geometry, Pre-Calculus
_{Position: Tutor}
^{Ironwood Ridge High School (Spring 2020)}

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Get to know more about me!!!