In today’s technology-driven world, computational literacy has become a fundamental competency for participation, creation, and critical engagement, much like reading, writing, and numeracy. As digital technologies increasingly shape how people live, learn, and communicate, it is essential that young people not only use but also understand and shape these technologies. Our research focuses on promoting computational literacy for children by designing learning experiences and tools that make computing accessible, engaging, and meaningful. We explore how design can support children in developing computational thinking, creativity, and problem-solving across different contexts. Current work includes two major threads: understanding and supporting children’s AI literacy, and leveraging physical play to create more embodied and playful coding experiences. In the first, we investigate how children learn about artificial intelligence, develop frameworks for AI literacy, and design playful tools to help them explore intelligent systems. In the second, we draw on theories of embodied learning to integrate movement and play into computational learning, creating coding kits and activities that encourage active, social, and creative engagement. Together, these efforts contribute to rethinking what computational literacy can mean for children and how it can be fostered through inclusive and imaginative design.

Developing a Holistic AI Literacy Framework for Children [LINK]
Kaiyue Jia, Teresa Leung, Ngai Yan Irene Cheung, Yixun Li, & Junnan Yu
ACM Transactions on Computing Education. 25, 2, Article 21 (June 2025), 30 pages.

Technologies for Children’s AI Learning: Design Features and Future Opportunities [LINK]
Kaiyue Jia, & Junnan Yu
In Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’25), Yokohama, Japan.

Leveraging Physical Activities to Support Learning for Young People via Technologies: An Examination of Educational Practices Across the Field [LINK]
Junnan Yu, Tian Xu, Camryn Kelley, Janet Ruppert & Ricarose Roque
Review of Educational Research (Acceptance Rate: 5.3%; Five-Year Impact Factor: 16.6)

Supporting Physically Active CS-Ed for Children: Exploring the Design of Physical Play Friendly Coding Blocks [LINK]
Noah Cowit & Junnan Yu
In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’24), Honolulu, HI, USA.

Exploring Computational Thinking with Physical Play Through Design [LINK]
Junnan Yu, Ronni Hayden & Ricarose Roque
In Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC ’23), Chicago, IL, USA.

Young Children’s Perceptions of Coding and Implications [LINK]
Junnan Yu & Ricarose Roque
In Proceedings of the 2022 ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC ’22), Braga, Portugal.

CodeAttach: Engaging Young Children in Computational Thinking Through Physical Play Activities [LINK]
Junnan Yu, Clement Zheng, Mariana Aki Tamashiro, Chrisopher Gonzalez-millan & Ricarose Roque
In Proceedings of the 14th ACM Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI ’20), Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Youth Civic Engagement Through Computing: Cases and Implications [LINK]
Junnan Yu, Janet Ruppert, Ricarose Roque & Ben Kirshner
ACM Inroads. 11, 4 (2020), 42–51.

A Review of Computational Toys and Kits for Young Children [LINK]
Junnan Yu & Ricarose Roque
International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, (2019) 21: 17–36.

A Survey of Computational Kits for Young Children [LINK | Student Best Paper Award]
Junnan Yu & Ricarose Roque
In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC ’18), Trondheim, Norway.