An investigation of the impact of culture and experience on reasoning about complex ecological phenomena among students from diverse backgrounds

作为加强非正式环境中学习的整体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助创新研究，方法和资源，用于各种环境。该项目将进行研究，旨在加深我们对文化，经验和生态系统认知的基础知识，并开发创新的实践和方法，以支持对不断变化的生态系统和环境决策的学习。在复杂系统知识的产生过程中，文化差异方面的工作严重缺乏。这种知识上的差距可能会导致科学教育中的不平等现象不断出现。更广泛地说，该项目的发现将对认知发展理论产生明确的影响，特别是那些与文化和经验如何塑造知识有关的理论。关注生态系统可能是一个机会，不仅可以增加非主导社区和土著青年在科学方面的参与和成就，而且还可以促进所有社区的有效学习。该项目的主要成果是会议报告和研究出版物。然而，该项目还将开发额外的资源，免费提供给研究人员，教育工作者和公众。这些将包括暑期课程材料和教学工具，专业发展研讨会，从业者简报研究成果，可以在专业发展研讨会上使用，并更广泛地分享，和评估报告。项目研究将包括两个相互关联的系列研究，旨在扩大有关人类对（复杂）生态系统的认知以及非正式STEM学习环境在开发和支持关键的21世纪世纪生态系统水平推理技能方面的启示。第一部分包括一系列实验，重点是生态认知和人类在自然界中的作用。第二部分包括在非正式环境中进行基于设计的研究干预，为青年和社区举办夏季讲习班，重点是生态系统层面的思考和社会环境决策。该项目将从两个广泛的文化社区-居住在城市和郊区社区的美洲原住民和欧洲裔美国人-招募儿童和成人参与者，部分原因是它对人与自然的关系提供了一个尖锐的考验。从两个不同的城市社区取样将避免简单的土著-非土著二进制比较，并进行土著对土著的比较分析。基于此结果，该项目将导致：1）关于人类学习和推理以及生态系统和环境决策的基础知识，2）关于室内和室外非正式学习环境的复杂生态系统的文化响应学习和实践模型，以及3）关于研究实践社区伙伴关系的见解。这项研究的一个重要目标是扩大参与，缩小代表性不足的群体在STEM领域的机会差距，更具体地说是土著人民。与该项目过去进行的研究一样，为其他有抱负的学者提供强有力榜样的土著社区成员将作为博士后研究员、研究助理和研究生研究员参与。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. The project will conduct research designed to deepen our fundamental knowledge about culture, experience, and ecosystems cognition and to develop innovative practices and approaches to support learning about changing ecological systems and environmental decision making. Work on cultural differences in the production of complex systems knowledge is severely lacking. This gap in knowledge may contribute to the continued reproduction of inequities in science education. More broadly findings from this project will have clear implications for theories of cognitive development, especially those pertaining to how knowledge is shaped by culture and experience. Focusing on ecosystems may represent an opportunity to not only increase engagement and achievement in science among non-dominant communities and Native youth specifically, but also advance effective learning for all communities. The primary deliverables for the project are conference presentations and research publications. However, the project will also develop additional resources freely available to researchers, educators, and the general public. These will include summer curricular materials and teaching tools, professional development workshops, practitioner briefs about research findings that can be used in professional development workshops and shared share more broadly, and evaluation reports.A deeper understanding of cultural influences on conceptions of the natural world can serve to advance the educational needs of children, including children from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Project research will include two interrelated series of studies and is designed to expand knowledge about human cognition of (complex) ecosystems and the affordances of informal STEM learning environments in developing and supporting the critical 21st century skill of ecological systems level reasoning. The first consists of a series of experiments focused on ecological cognition and the role of humans in nature. The second consists of design-based research interventions in informal settings, summer workshops for youth and the communities, focused on ecological systems level thinking and socio-environmental decision making. The project will recruit and engage both child and adult participants from two broad cultural communities, Native Americans and European Americans living in urban and suburban communities, in part because it affords a sharp test of human-nature relations. Sampling from two different urban communities will avoid simple Native-non-Native comparative binaries and to conduct Native-to-Native comparative analysis. Based on results from this, the project will result in: 1) foundational knowledge about human learning and reasoning and ecosystems and environmental decision making, 2) culturally responsive models of learning and practice about complex ecosystems for indoors and outdoors informal learning environments, and 3) insights about research-practice-community partnerships. One important objective of the research is to broaden participation and close opportunity gaps for under-represented groups in STEM fields broadly and more specifically for Indigenous people. As in past research conducted by the project, members of Indigenous communities, who provide strong role models for other aspiring scholars, will be involved as postdoctoral fellows, research assistants and graduate fellows.