CAREER: ENGINEERING DESIGN ACROSS NAVAJO CULTURE, COMMUNITY, AND SOCIETY

本研究旨在(1)探索纳瓦霍学生和纳瓦霍专业人员在他们的文化、社区和社会背景下体验和理解工程设计的方式；(2)对文化情境化学习理论和课程模块的发展进行基于设计的研究，并将在纳瓦霍族的几所学校进行试点；(3)创建和试点评估纳瓦霍学生的工具？有工程设计经验。在社会建构主义和文化相关教育学的理论框架下，本研究将采用现象学方法探索纳瓦霍学生和纳瓦霍专业人员在其文化背景下体验工程设计的方式，并采用基于设计的研究方法将现象学的结果应用于文化情境化工程课程的迭代开发中。随着下一代科学标准对工程的关注，本研究的结果将为如何在文化背景下的工程设计课程中吸引和评估纳瓦霍学生提供重要见解，这将照亮STEM领域的高等教育和职业道路。

This study seeks to (1) explore the ways in which Navajo students and Navajo professionals experience and understand engineering design in the context of their culture, community, and society; (2) conduct a design-based research study on the development of culturally-contextualized theory of learning and curriculum modules that will be piloted in several schools in the Navajo Nation; and (3) create and pilot tools to evaluate Navajo students? experience of engineering design. Under the theoretical frameworks of social constructivism and culturally relevant pedagogy, this study will use a phenomenographic approach to explore the ways that Navajo students and Navajo professionals experience engineering design in the context of their culture, and a design-based research approach to apply the results from the phenomenography in the iterative development of culturally-contextualized engineering curricula. With the focus on engineering in the Next Generation Science Standards, the results of this study will provide critical insight into how to engage and evaluate Navajo students in culturally-contextualized engineering design curricula, which will illuminate pathways for higher education and careers in STEM fields.