Enacting and Researching Culturally Sustaining STEM Pedagogies Across Informal Settings in Gullah/Geechee Communities in the Southeastern United States

南卡罗来纳大学将在美国东南部开发和研究一个教育项目，旨在表彰和突出西非和西印度群岛后裔的科学贡献。尽管这些贡献对许多科学事业至关重要，包括土地管理和水培技术，但它们在教育项目中仍然基本上得不到重视。为解决这一问题，该项目将为古拉/吉奇社区的年轻人制定一个非正式的科学教育方案，这些社区的祖先以前是西非和西印度群岛的奴隶。几个世纪以来，古拉/吉奇人发展了历史和当代的科学、工程和技术实践，使人们能够在从北卡罗来纳州到佛罗里达州的屏障岛屿和沿海城市掌握捕鱼和种植大量农作物。在Gullah/Geechee学者和社区成员的指导下，职前和在职教师将共同设计支持文化的暑期项目，为Gullah/Geechee青年提供参与文化嵌入的科学和工程实践的机会，因为他们了解与这些实践相关的众多STEM(科学、技术、工程和数学)职业道路。南卡罗来纳大学将与历史悠久的非裔美国人历史和文化机构宾夕法尼亚中心，以及致力于改善海洋和海岸资源管理的研究机构贝尔·W·巴鲁克海洋和海岸科学研究所合作，举办这些暑期项目。研究人员将研究在职教师和任职前教师如何制定支持古拉/吉奇文化实践的教学方法。他们还将研究Gullah/Geechee青年如何通过创建iMovies和通过由宾夕法尼亚中心、巴鲁克研究所和其他社区合作伙伴主办的社区演示来分享他们对嵌入文化的科学内容的理解。该项目将通过文化支持的教学法，促进在非正式环境中扩大对STEM(科学、技术、工程和数学)职业道路的参与的知识。该项目还将通过阐明不同的机构和利益相关者--如社区领袖、文化中心、大学教育工作者项目和科学研究组织--如何共同努力，支持非正式环境中的文化嵌入学习，促进伙伴关系。南卡罗来纳大学将根据基于设计的研究和基于社区的参与性研究的原则进行一项混合方法研究。来自代表性不足群体的职前和在职教师将参加为期两年的身临其境的专业发展体验，在此期间，他们与Gullah/Geechee学者和领导人共同设计和教授支持文化的暑期项目。在这些方案中，五年级和六年级的古拉/吉奇青年将通过应用以古拉/吉奇文化为基础的历史和当代科学实践，进行基于项目的学习。在文化导师的指导下，青年将从事类似于社区中STEM专业人员的STEM实践。研究人员将研究教育者如何理解和应用文化支持的教学法，方法是使用不断的比较分析方法来分析观察和访谈的文本，以及教育者的工作材料(例如，教案)。他们还将研究青年如何通过不断的比较和多模式分析来分析采访和观察的文字记录以及iMovie等青年制作的文物，从而传达他们对嵌入文化的科学内容和做法的理解。此外，前测和后测将使研究小组能够确定青年对科学内容的理解以及对参与STEM企业和职业的看法的变化。将与当地媒体和相关文化中心分享可交付成果，如青年产生的产品，同时将通过地方和国家会议广泛传播经验成果。该项目由学生和教师创新技术体验计划(ITEST)资助，该计划支持的项目旨在加深对实践、计划要素、背景和过程的理解，有助于提高学生对科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)以及信息和通信技术(ICT)职业的知识和兴趣。该项目也由高级非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划共同资助。作为在非正式环境中加强学习的总体战略的一部分，AISL项目寻求推进非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括为扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验提供多种途径，在非正式环境中推进对STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及加深参与者对更深层次学习的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The University of South Carolina will develop and research an educational program in the Southeastern United States designed to recognize and foreground the scientific contributions of the descendants of West Africans and West Indians. Though these contributions have been vital to many scientific enterprises, including land stewardship and aquaponics, they have remained largely underappreciated in educational programs. To address this issue, this project will develop an informal science education program for youth from Gullah/Geechee communities whose ancestors were formerly enslaved West African and West Indian peoples. Across centuries, Gullah/Geechee people have developed historical and contemporary scientific, engineering, and technological practices that enabled the mastery of fishing and the cultivation of numerous crops across barrier islands and coastal cities from North Carolina to Florida. Guided by Gullah/Geechee scholars and community members, pre-service and in-service teachers will co-design culturally sustaining summer programs, which provide Gullah/Geechee youth with opportunities to engage in culturally-embedded scientific and engineering practices as they learn about numerous STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) career pathways related to these practices. The University of South Carolina will host these summer programs in partnership with the historic Penn Center, an African American historical and cultural institution, and in partnership with the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, a research organization dedicated to improving the management of marine and coastal resources. Researchers will study how the in-service and pre-service teachers enact pedagogies that sustain Gullah/Geechee cultural practices. They will also study how the Gullah/Geechee youth share their understandings of culturally-embedded scientific content through creating iMovies and through giving community presentations hosted by the Penn Center, Baruch Institute, and other community partners. This project will advance knowledge on broadening participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) career pathways in informal settings through culturally sustaining pedagogies. This project will also advance partnerships through illuminating how different institutions and stakeholders—such as community leaders, cultural centers, university educator programs, and scientific research organizations—can work together to support culturally-embedded learning across informal settings.The University of South Carolina will conduct a mixed-method study grounded in principles of design-based research and community-based participatory research. Pre-service and in-service teachers from underrepresented groups will participate in an immersive two-year professional development experience during which they co-design and teach culturally sustaining summer programs with Gullah/Geechee scholars and leaders. In these programs, fifth- and sixth-grade Gullah/Geechee youth will engage in project-based learning by applying historical and contemporary scientific practices grounded in Gullah/Geechee cultures. Guided by cultural mentors, youth will engage in STEM practices similar to those of STEM professionals in the community. Researchers will study how the educators understand and apply culturally sustaining pedagogies by using constant comparative analytic methods to analyze transcripts from observations and interviews, as well as the educators’ work materials (e.g., lesson plans). They will also study how the youth convey their understandings of culturally-embedded scientific content and practices by using constant comparative and multimodal analysis to analyze transcripts from interviews and observations, as well as youth-generated artifacts such as the iMovie. Additionally, pre- and post-tests will enable the research team to determine changes to the youths’ understandings of scientific content and perceptions regarding participation in STEM enterprises and careers. Deliverables, such as youth-generated products, will be shared with local media and with relevant cultural centers, while empirical results will be widely disseminated through local and national conferences. This project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts, and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers. This project is also co-funded by the Advanced Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program. As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the AISL program seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.