Leveraging community-based organizations to develop and study Native Hawaiian ethos-driven ('Āina-based) environmental science activities

这个创新发展项目是由推进非正式STEM学习计划，旨在推进新的方法，并以证据为基础的理解，在非正式环境中的STEM学习的设计和开发资助。这包括提供多种途径，以扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验，推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及发展参与者对深入学习的理解。具体来说，该项目通过引导夏威夷土著12-17岁的青少年及其家庭成员与自然世界的维持元素（包括土地，海洋和空气）的文化关系，将他们与STEM联系起来。该项目旨在：扩大历来在STEM中代表性不足的夏威夷土著青年的参与;积极维护夏威夷土著人的认知方式和传统知识;阐明植根于文化智慧的科学;并将STEM带入参与者的生活，因为他们与夏威夷土著人联系在一起。该项目将与夏威夷六个以夏威夷为基础的社区组织合作，开发，实施和研究以夏威夷为中心的环境教育活动，探索当地环境问题的解决方案。例如，在一个单元中，青年及其家人将探索附近溪流的一段;确定和讨论本地、非本地和入侵物种;从溪流的一小段中清除入侵物种，并进行观察，从而讨论意外后果和系统影响;最后，学员将在其他地方的水道见面，进行类似的探索和讨论，传授他们的知识，以了解建筑对当地河流和珊瑚礁的影响。在这项工作中，社区组织带来了他们在保护夏威夷文化和可持续岛屿生活方式方面的专门知识，包括农业和灌溉传统等农村和城市系统以及文化遗址的修复。夏威夷大学的教职员工带来了环境科学，生物学，夏威夷研究和基于问题的学习课程开发方面的专业知识。该项目进一步支持六个社区组织之间的组织学习和交流。在夏威夷的夏威夷，学习和教学是同一种互动，社区组织将建立一个实践社区，共同学习基于问题的学习教学法;共同学习和参与研究和评价方法;并分享经验和传统知识，共同发展以纳州为基础的环境教育活动。该项目独特地研究了社区的影响，领导夏威夷学习者的兴趣和环境科学的联系的文化相关的教学法，并通过实证研究了解基于夏威夷的学习。研究方法借鉴了基于社区的探索性研究和土著研究方法，以制定一个合作研究设计过程，纳入该项目的关键组成部分。社区成员、研究人员和评估人员将共同研究以下研究问题：1）环境问题导向学习如何在以环境为基础的非正式环境中进行？2)环境教育学习对青少年和家庭参与者有何影响？和3）如何做的哥伦比亚大学为中心的问题为基础的学习方法，以非正式的干教育支持干的知识，兴趣和意识？评估将采用混合方法的参与式设计，以探索方案的有效性，保真度，并在社区为基础的网站更广泛的实施，以及每个社区为基础的网站内的方案的可持续性。预期项目成果是与六个位于纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫的社区组织和72名工作人员开展为期15周的组织学习和分享计划;设计和实施18项活动，以覆盖360名青年及其至少一名家庭成员;并启动一个位于纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫的STEM实践社区。该项目的研究和开发过程中的阿卡纳为中心的环境教育活动将被广泛分享，并提供了一个有用的例子，为其他组织在当地和全国的非正式环境与原住民或土著居民的工作。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This Innovations in Development project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning program, which 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. Specifically, this project connects Native Hawaiian youth ages 12-17 and their family members to STEM by channeling their cultural relationship with ʻāina, the sustaining elements of the natural world including the land, sea, and air. This project seeks to: broaden participation of Native Hawaiian youth who have been historically underrepresented in STEM; actively uphold Native Hawaiian ways of knowing and traditional knowledge; articulate the science rooted in cultural wisdom; and bring STEM into the lives of participants as they connect to the ʻāina. In partnership with six ʻāina-based community organizations across Hawaiʻi, this project will develop, implement, and study ʻāina-centered environmental education activities that explore solutions to local environmental problems. For example, in one module youth and their families will explore of a section of a nearby stream; identify and discuss the native, non-native, and invasive species; remove invasive species from a small section of the stream and make observations leading to discussions of unintended consequences and systemic impacts; ultimately, learners will meet at additional local waterways to engage in similar explorations and discussions, transferring their knowledge to understanding the impacts of construction on local streams and coral reefs. To this effort, the community-based organizations bring their expertise in preserving Hawaiian culture and sustainable island lifestyle, including rural and urban systems such as farming and irrigation traditions and the restoration of cultural sites. University of Hawai’i faculty and staff bring expertise in Environmental Science, Biology, Hawaiian Studies and Problem-Based Learning Curriculum Development. This project further supports organizational learning and sharing among the six community-based organizations. Grounded in Hawaiian ʻAʻo, where learning and teaching are the same interaction, community-based organizations will create a Community of Practice that will co-learn Problem-Based Learning pedagogy; co-learn and engage in research and evaluation methods; and share experiential and traditional knowledge to co-develop the ʻāina-based environmental education activities.This project is uniquely situated to study the impact of community-led culturally relevant pedagogy on Hawaiian learners’ interests and connections to environmental science, and to understand ʻāina-based learning through empirical research. Research methods draw on Community-Based Participatory Research and Indigenous Research Methods to develop a collaborative research design process incorporated into the project’s key components. Community members, researchers, and evaluators will work together to examine the following research questions: 1) How does environmental Problem-Based Learning situate within ʻāina-based informal contexts?; 2) What are the environmental education learning impacts of ʻāina-based activities on youth and family participants?; and 3) How does the ʻāina-centered Problem-Based Learning approach to informal STEM education support STEM knowledge, interest and awareness? The evaluation will employ a mixed-methods participatory design to explore program efficacy, fidelity, and implementation more broadly across community-based sites, as well as program sustainability within each community-based site. Anticipated project outcomes are a 15-week organizational learning and sharing program with six ʻāina-based community organizations and 72 staff; the design and implementation of 18 activities to reach 360 youth and at least one of their family members; and the launch of an ʻāina-based STEM Community of Practice. The project’s research and development process for ʻāina-centered environmental education activities will be shared broadly and provide a useful example for other organizations locally and nationally working in informal settings with Native or Indigenous populations.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.