Developing a Place-based STEM Education Model for Cultural Connections to Alaska Science

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Developing a Place-based STEM Education Model for Cultural Connections to Alaska ScienceThe project will design and research the Cultural Connections Process Model (CCPM), a place-based, culturally sustaining STEM educational resources and model that will engage Alaska Native and other high school students in STEM. The project approach is strongly informed by Indigenous knowledge systems (i.e., knowledge embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, Indigenous or local communities) and incorporates relevant arctic scientific research. Culturally-based education is Place-Based Education (PBE) rooted with cultural values, ancestral knowledge, and heritage language. The project team includes Native Alaskan elders and advisors, university educators and arctic researchers. Alaska’s rural districts loosely align with the boundaries of Alaska Native tribal homelands. The project will take place in four widely-dispersed geographic regions across Alaska encompassing four Indigenous cultures (Iñupiat, Gwich’in Athabascan, Tlingit/Tsimshian, and Alutiiq), serving approximately 1,300 students in 24 schools. The project will involve a team of Native Alaska advisors from each region, who will work together with the project team to co-develop a series of 10 hands-on curriculum units and Alaska-based science videos. Project research will address four questions related to the transferability, sustainability and adaptability of the CCPM: 1) How can the CCPM be implemented effectively with a more culturally and geographically diverse population? 2) With a broad selection of Alaska schools, how effectively do the CCPM-based education resources increase student engagement, help students contextualize science concepts to place; and engage culture bearers in the learning process? 3) To what extent do CCPM-based products complement Indigenous theoretical education frameworks? 4) Which training methods and resources are most useful in preparing school district staff to use the CCPM? Project research methodologies will be co-created through collaboration with the project team (University of Alaska, Fairbanks educators and researchers, teachers from participating districts) and participating Indigenous communities. This process will be guided by using cultural protocols stemming from indigenous cultural values and ways of knowing and validating knowledge. The Indigenous ways of analyzing what is known about the world relies on collaborative construction of understanding through storytelling and sharing experiences. The project will also collect Indigenous narratives and spoken languages (currently endangered) on audio and video, preserving cultural knowledge and generational wisdom for future scholars. The project will collect data directly from participants on the co-development teams, elders, advisors, and school district officials. Data sources will include focus group sessions, interviews, surveys, pre- and post-participant student measures, and extensive documentation of co-creation processes conducted by the project team and regional advisory teams. Research findings will be widely distributed via journal articles, conference presentations, community/tribal meetings, and the project website.The Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects. 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.