Teaching students to critically evaluate AI, not just use it.

Five computer science pathways, built from the standards up, and the audit tooling that verifies them. This is the work behind the writing.

Will Bumgardner, Ph.D. Candidate Curriculum Portfolio v1.0 • Nevada CTE CS Alignment

The writing

I write about AI literacy in computer science education at willbumgardner.substack.com — what I am building, what I got wrong, and what the research actually says. The portfolio below is the evidence behind it.

I build computer science pathways from the standards up, then build the tooling that checks whether they deliver what they claim. Most standards alignment is a spreadsheet nobody opens after it is filed. This is the version where you can pick a standard and see the day it actually gets taught, or see that it doesn't.

Computer Science Curriculum Suite

Active Course & Audit Demo

CTE L1 / AP CSP Equivalent

Advanced Computer Science I

A comprehensive 17-unit introduction to computer science utilizing p5.js, Karel programming, and data science principles. Engineered to align with the Nevada Department of Education state standards.

Scope & Sequence Interactive Auditor

Active Course & Audit Demo

CTE L1 / Web Dev Pathway

Web Development & Design I

Focused on semantic HTML5, CSS layout engines, responsive web systems, client-side scripting, and accessibility standards. Evaluated for state pathways (FBLA integrations).

Scope & Sequence Interactive Auditor

Active Course & Audit Demo

CTE Course Pathway

Digital Game Design I

Introduction to game design mechanics, rendering loops, and sprite-based interaction. Focuses on 2D physics, vector movements, asset pipeline integration, and object-oriented structure.

Scope & Sequence Interactive Auditor

Built — Never Taught

CTE Course Pathway

Digital Game Design II

Advanced 3D production pipeline (Blender → Unity 6) and programming, designed as a one-year bridge to satisfy missing L2 standards from the prior CodeHS sequence. This course was never scheduled and no student took it. It is published here as a design artifact only, and its standards are not counted in any coverage figure. A full DGD II is being built for 2027–28.

Scope & Sequence Interactive Auditor

Active Course & Audit Demo

CTE Course Pathway

Computer Education Technology

Foundational technology integration, digital citizenship, software productivity systems, information literacy, and educational computing scaffolds tailored for instructional leadership.

Scope & Sequence Interactive Auditor

Pedagogical Framework

My curriculum design work is design-based. I build the unit, teach it, then examine what the design actually does once it is in the room and revise from what that shows.

Direct standards grounding
Bidirectional audit visibility
Critical AI literacy integration
Actionable teacher scaffolds

Dissertation & Research Grounding

Curriculum implementation is often a black box. State audits evaluate static paperwork, while teachers face the daily complexity of classroom translation. This portfolio is the artifact base for my dissertation work at National University, which is heading toward a design-based research study: build and iterate a unit inside a running high school CS course, then consolidate what the cycles teach into design principles a rural single-teacher program can actually use. The intended contribution is the validated principles rather than the unit itself. The methodology is not settled until my committee meets in 2027, so read that as the direction rather than a finished claim.

By designing lesson-level scaffolding that maps directly to Nevada Career & Technical Education (CTE) indicators, the course map works as a practical model rather than a compliance document. Particular attention goes to AI literacy and ethical scaffolding (Nevada Standard 2.1.2/5.1.4), so students interrogate the technology instead of just consuming it. An article on that approach is currently under review at ACM Inroads.