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

这一发展中的创新项目由推进非正式STEM学习计划资助，该计划旨在促进对非正式环境中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，推进对非正式环境中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。具体地说，该项目通过引导12-17岁的夏威夷原住民青年及其家庭成员与ʻāina的文化关系，将他们与STEM联系起来，INA是自然世界的持续元素，包括陆地、海洋和空气。该项目力求：扩大夏威夷原住民青年在科学、技术和经济研究方面的参与；积极维护夏威夷原住民的认识方式和传统知识；阐明植根于文化智慧的科学；并在参与者与ʻāina连接时，将科学、技术和工程带入他们的生活。该项目将与夏威夷的六个以ʻāina为基础的社区组织合作，开发、实施和研究以HawaiʻI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河流的一段；确定和讨论本地、非本地和入侵物种；从一小段河流中清除入侵物种并进行观察，从而导致对意外后果和系统性影响的讨论；最终，学习者将在更多的当地水道会面，进行类似的探索和讨论，将他们的知识传授给了解建筑工程对当地溪流和珊瑚礁的影响。为此，社区组织将其在保护夏威夷文化和可持续的岛屿生活方式方面的专业知识，包括农村和城市系统，如农业和灌溉传统，以及文化遗址的修复，纳入其中。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以社区为基础的组织之间的组织学习和交流。以夏威夷ʻAʻo为基础的社区组织将创建一个实践社区，共同学习基于问题的学习教学法；共同学习并参与研究和评估方法；分享经验和传统知识，共同发展基于ʻāINA的环境教育活动。该项目的独特之处在于研究社区主导的与文化相关的教学方法对夏威夷学习者的兴趣和与环境科学的联系的影响，并通过实证研究了解基于ʻāINA的学习。研究方法借鉴以社区为基础的参与性研究和土著研究方法，以制定纳入项目关键组成部分的协作研究设计过程。社区成员、研究人员和评估者将共同探讨以下研究问题：1)基于环境问题的学习如何存在于基于ʻāINA的非正式环境中？2)基于ʻāINA的活动对青少年和家庭参与者的环境教育学习影响是什么？以及3)ʻ以̄INA为中心的基于问题的学习方法如何支持STEM知识、兴趣和意识？评估将采用混合方法参与式设计，以探索社区站点之间的计划有效性、保真度和更广泛的实施，以及每个社区站点内的计划可持续性。预期的项目成果是与SixʻāINA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，覆盖360名青年及其至少一名家庭成员；以及启动基于ʻāINA的STEM实践社区。该项目以ʻāINA为中心的环境教育活动的研究和开发过程将被广泛分享，并为当地和国家其他在非正式环境中与土著或土著人口合作的组织提供有用的范例。该奖项反映了国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

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.