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

作为在非正式环境中加强学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划为各种环境中使用的创新研究、方法和资源提供资金。该项目将进行研究，旨在加深我们关于文化、经验和生态系统认知的基础知识，并开发创新的做法和方法，以支持对不断变化的生态系统和环境决策的学习。关于复杂系统生产中的文化差异的工作严重缺乏知识。这种知识上的差距可能会导致科学教育中不平等现象的继续再现。更广泛地说，这个项目的发现将对认知发展理论产生明确的影响，特别是那些关于知识如何由文化和经验塑造的理论。将重点放在生态系统上可能是一个机会，不仅可以增加非主要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。该项目的主要交付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，供研究人员、教育工作者和普通公众免费使用。这些将包括暑期课程材料和教学工具、专业发展讲习班、关于可用于专业发展讲习班并更广泛地分享的研究成果的从业者简报，以及评估报告。更深入地了解文化对自然界概念的影响可有助于促进儿童，包括来自不同语言和文化背景的儿童的教育需求。项目研究将包括两个相互关联的系列研究，旨在扩大关于人类对复杂生态系统的认知的知识，以及非正式STEM学习环境在开发和支持21世纪关键的生态系统水平推理技能方面的负担。第一个实验由一系列实验组成，重点是生态认知和人类在自然界中的作用。第二个项目包括在非正式环境中以设计为基础的研究干预，为青年和社区举办暑期讲习班，重点是生态系统层面的思考和社会环境决策。该项目将招募和吸引来自两个广泛文化社区的儿童和成人参与者，即居住在城市和郊区社区的美国原住民和欧洲裔美国人，部分原因是它对人与自然的关系进行了尖锐的考验。从两个不同的城市社区取样将避免简单的土著-非土著比较二进制，并进行土著-土著比较分析。在此基础上，该项目将产生：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)室内和室外非正式学习环境中关于复杂生态系统的文化响应学习和实践模式，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STEM领域中代表性不足群体的参与，缩小机会差距，尤其是土著人民。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其中，为其他有抱负的学者提供强有力的榜样。

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 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. Members of Indigenous communities, who provide strong role models for other aspiring scholars, will be involved as postdoctoral fellows, research assistants and graduate fellows.