Headshot of Amy J. Ko

Amy J. Ko, Ph.D.

she/her Professor Associate Dean for Academics The Information School Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering courtesy University of Washington, Seattle - Editor-in-Chief, ACM TOCE - Co-Director, CS for All Washington - Co-Director, Reciprocal Reviews
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I will likely be recruiting one new Ph.D. student for the 2027-28 academic year, either in the Information School or the Allen School, and likely on the topic of K-12 CS education, generative AI, and critical, liberatory pedagogy. I generally do not meet with prospective students outside of our admissions process and season, but if that topic sounds interesting to you, and you have questions that aren't answered on my website, feel free to write me an email and we can chat.


Here is what I've been up to in the past three years.

2026– Associate Dean for Academics 🔗︎

📄︎ Reimagining Assessment: How Co-construction Shifts Agency in Computer Science Classrooms📄︎ Justice-Centered Educational Programming Language Design📄︎ Systems, Values, and Conceptions Shaping Computing Education in Refugee Support Organizations📄︎ Ability Heuristics for Conducting Accessibility Inspections📄︎ Culture-Centric Computational Embroidery as a Medium for Learning Computer Science✍︎ CHI 2026 trip report: ay ay AI✍︎ A day at the University of Minnesota✍︎ Winter wondering✍︎ SIGCSE 2026: Love and learning✍︎ Five years of justice-centered secondary CS teacher education✍︎ Five F-words for 2026✈︎ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems✈︎ University of Minnessota Carlis Colloquium✈︎ 2026 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium🎤︎ Love, Learning, and Computing Education🎓︎ Justice-Centered Educational Programming Languages🎓︎ Computer Science Equity & Justice🌱︎ Got bugs? Here’s how to catch the errors in your scientific software🌱︎ Everything Feels More Glitchy Right Now and Everyone Is Blaming Vibe Coding. The Real Story Is More Complicated🌱︎ Apple’s App Course Runs $20,000 a Student. Is It Really Worth It?

2025– Associate Dean for Academics 🔗︎

📄︎ Deconstructing Conceptions of Rigor in Computer Science Education📄︎ Integrating large language model and psychometric analysis to understand learners' coding behaviors📄︎ Dreaming of Difference: Imagining the Future of CS Education Pedagogy with Secondary Students📄︎ How Students Tackle Coding Tasks in Formative Assessment📄︎ Justice-Centered Computing Curriculum Design in Informal Learning📄︎ Scratch Copilot: Supporting Youth Creative Coding with AI📄︎ Leveraging psychometric modeling for enhancing programming skill assessments📄︎ Wordplay: Accessible, Multilingual Interactive Typography📄︎ A Retrospective on How Developers Seek, Relate, and Collect Information About Code✍︎ Pride and posting✍︎ Koli Calling 2025: Alliances of the Artificial✍︎ Dagstuhl trip report: creativity, code, and generative AI✍︎ Will the U.S. collapse?✍︎ Fractured bones, fractured mind✍︎ Little blue pills✍︎ How is fascism going for you? Here’s how it’s going for me✍︎ CHI 2025: Frayed edges✍︎ We are not bits: AI and dehumanization✍︎ SIGCSE 2025: Rumination, resistance✍︎ A day at the state capitol✍︎ Plain language American problems✍︎ Horror, joy✈︎ Koli Calling 2025✈︎ Dagstuhl: Creativity, GenAI, and Software Development✈︎ CHI 2025✈︎ Berkeley EECS visit✈︎ SIGCSE 2025🎤︎ Ten recipes for leveraging ADA Title II compliance for more accessible higher education🎤︎ Justice-Centered Educational Programming Languages🎤︎ Wordplay: Accessible, Multilingual, Interactive Typography🎤︎ Justice-Centered Educational Programming Languages🎓︎ Justice-Centered Educational Programming Languages🎓︎ Computer Science Equity & Justice👤︎ Max Skorodinsky👤︎ Benjamin Zhou🌱︎ Education to Employment: Building AI-Ready Talent🌱︎ Conversations with a Prominent Propagator: Amy Ko🌱︎ State CS Graduation Requirements🌱︎ Conversations with a Prominent Propagator: Amy Ko🌱︎ Confronting AI in the classroom🌱︎ The Trump Administration Has Canceled Millions in NSF Grants

2024– Informatics program chair; Associate Dean for Academics 🔗︎

📄︎ How Economically-Marginalized Adolescents of Color Negotiate Critical Pedagogy in a Computing Classroom📄︎ Measuring students' programming skills via online practice📄︎ Neurodivergent Legitimacy in Computing Spaces📄︎ Recruiting Practices in Informal CS Learning📄︎ Exploring the Impact of Assessment Policies on Marginalized Students' Experiences in Post-Secondary Programming Courses📄︎ Integrating Philosophy Teaching Perspectives to Foster Adolescents' Ethical Sensemaking of Computing Technologies📄︎ Teaching Accessible Computing📄︎ "There Will Always be a Yes and No Side": Facilitating Ethical Sensemaking Around Technology with Teens📄︎ Factors Influencing the Social Help-Seeking Behavior of Introductory Programming Students in a Competitive University Environment📄︎ Culture-centric computational embroidery✍︎ Fragmentation in academic leadership✍︎ The Coming Storm✍︎ I am an Associate Dean for Academics✍︎ Trans Studies 2024 trip report: academic trans camp!✍︎ ICER 2024 trip report: winter in Melbourne✍︎ Pride and shame in hobbyist programming✍︎ CRA Snowbird 2024 trip report: computing contrasts✍︎ CSTA 2024 trip report: mixed messages✍︎ I’m a proud professor parent✍︎ AERA 2024 trip report: blight and belief✍︎ Trans day of chores✍︎ SIGCSE 2024 trip report: always hallways✍︎ Processing a "A Short History of Trans Misogyny"✍︎ Power, ignorance, and the healing promise of curiosity✍︎ Data dependency✍︎ Individual and collective recognition✍︎ Cars are unjust✍︎ Things I hope for in 2024✈︎ Harvey Mudd visit✈︎ AAAI/ACM Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society✈︎ 2nd International Trans Studies Conference✈︎ ACM ICER 2024✈︎ Snowbird✈︎ CSTA Annual Conference✈︎ ISAT/DARPA Workshop The Great Oncoming kNowledge Ending (GONE)✈︎ ECEP CMP4✈︎ AERA Annual Meeting✈︎ ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium 2024🎤︎ Justice-Centered Educational Programming Languages🎤︎ Liberatory Futures for Computing Literacy🎤︎ Searching for Justice in Programming Language Design🎤︎ Building a Community of Equity-Focused CS Educators🎤︎ Searching for Justice in Programming Language Design🎓︎ Justice-Centered Educational Programming Languages🎓︎ User Interface Software and Technology🎓︎ Computer Science Equity & Justice👤︎ Isabel Amaya👤︎ Jean Salac👤︎ Mara Kirdani-Ryan🌱︎ Washington state is a leader in computer science education, but disparities persist🌱︎ UW researchers taught kids to code with cultural research and embroidery machines🌱︎ The architecture of SAST tools: An explainer for developers🌱︎ Hearsay Culture

CC0 Last updated 5/2/2026. To the extent possible under law, Amy J. Ko has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to the design and implementation of Amy's faculty site. This work is published from the United States. See this site's GitHub repository to view source and provide feedback.