Collaborative Research: The Cultural Context of Native-American Science Education

合作研究：美国原住民科学教育的文化背景

• 批准号: 0529650
• 负责人: Douglas Medin
• 金额: $ 72.23万
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-01 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0529650&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Cultural; Context; Native

The long-term goal of the researchers is to improve science learning for Native- American students and so to reduce the disparity between majority and minority culture students' science achievement. The project will provide a controlled test of the claim that bridging cultural differences in how one understands science will lead to improved learning of science content knowledge. The PIs' previous research with the Menominee has indicated that rural Native-American children begin school with a relatively precocious understanding of biology, but that this initial knowledge of the natural world does not translate into superior learning in traditional science curricula. On standardized tests Menominee children score above the national average in science in fourth grade, but by eighth grade it is their worst subject. The PIs explore the hypothesis that Native-American practices may clash with the cultural context and methodology used in the formal teaching of science. The proposal includes studies that will explore the educational relevance of cultural differences in approaches to the teaching of science and it includes the design, implementation, and evaluation of an after-school program. The initial studies will continue the researchers efforts to identify barriers to Native-American science learning and to develop and test strategies for building on the cultural knowledge that Native-American children bring to the classroom. Research on children's folkbiology has been conducted almost exclusively with individuals from urban North American populations. The proposed research will bring more evidence to bear on the problem of science learning in minority culture contexts.

研究人员的长期目标是改善美国原住民学生的科学学习，从而缩小多数民族和少数民族学生在科学成就上的差距。该项目将提供一个控制测试的索赔，弥合文化差异，在如何理解科学将导致改善学习科学内容的知识。PI先前对Menominee的研究表明，农村的美国土著儿童开始上学时对生物学的理解相对较早，但这种对自然世界的初步知识并没有转化为传统科学课程中的上级学习。在四年级的标准化考试中，梅诺米尼儿童的科学成绩高于全国平均水平，但到了八年级，这是他们最差的科目。PI探索了这样一个假设，即美国本土的做法可能与正式科学教学中使用的文化背景和方法发生冲突。该提案包括将探索科学教学方法中文化差异的教育相关性的研究，包括课后计划的设计，实施和评估。最初的研究将继续研究人员的努力，以确定美国本土科学学习的障碍，并制定和测试战略，建立在美国本土儿童带到课堂上的文化知识。对儿童民俗生物学的研究几乎完全是以北美城市人口为对象。这项研究将为少数民族文化背景下的科学学习问题提供更多的证据。