Kaulele (To Take Flight) - Creating a Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Indigenous-led Design Framework for STEM Exhibits

在过去的几十年里，科学博物馆领域一直在努力更好地理解和设计展品，以反映更多样化的学习和了解方式，并支持更广泛地参与STEM和非正式STEM学习。该项目由当地夏威夷社区组织太平洋原住民教育和文化研究所(INPEACE)牵头，将开发和研究夏威夷原住民/太平洋岛民(NHPI)原住民主导的展览设计框架。项目组认识到，发展夏威夷原住民/太平洋岛民对科学事业的信任需要建立联系，将‘Ike kupna(传统知识)’的价值观和概念与科学知识体系和当代技术联系起来。该项目源于试点和可行性研究，这些研究产生了三个弹出式科学展览，并为初步框架奠定了基础。该团队将与卡米哈梅哈学校、夏威夷大学马诺阿分校、科学和技术中心协会(ASTC)、探索儿童博物馆-拉斯维加斯、檀香山市县公园和娱乐中心以及其他机构合作，按照最初的框架开发两个以夏威夷土著认识论和与STEM的文化联系为基础的展览。根据当地的需求和兴趣，展览将以弹出式体验的形式设计和提供给夏威夷的多个农村社区，并可能涵盖用于远洋航行的土著恒星导航系统、食物和水容器的网状系统，或使用当地和自然材料的家居设计系统。在整个展览的迭代发展过程中，该项目将采用夏威夷土著和西方的研究和评估方法来研究和完善NHPI土著主导的设计框架。NHPI土著主导的设计框架的文化优先方法具有强大的潜力，可以改变科学博物馆领域思考和做展览设计的方式。本项目将集中于两个研究问题：1)NHPI土著主导的基于文化的STEM展品设计过程中，哪些要素对于保留土著文化的基础和特征是必要的？2)NHPI土著主导的展览设计框架和过程能否在参与结果、提高兴趣和与土著夏威夷人的STEM主题的关系方面产生一致的复制？为了回答第一个问题，该小组将优先考虑土著认识论、参与性方法以及夏威夷和太平洋岛民文化研究和评估实践的整合。数据收集和分析将尊重Mooku‘auhau(家谱)和ho’oilina(继承)的文化概念，并包括传统的评估模式，如ho‘ike和’uniki，评估学习者对知识和技能的获得和理解，以及他们展示和交流此类知识和技能的能力。定性方法，如访谈、观察和文件分析，将被用来捕捉整体体验、上下文理解和内部联系。Wala‘au(Talk Story)等实践创造了开放对话的空间，社区、教育者和学习者的声音和观点确保包容性、中介性和与土著观点的一致性。Nune Maila(反思)练习将在研究和评价团队中培养自我意识和对文化偏见的批判性审查。这些反思过程与祖先用来理解所获得的知识和技能的方法是一致的。为了回答第二个问题，该团队将使用总结性参观者体验数据(每个弹出式展览n=40-50)的结果来了解该框架是否可以一致地应用于多个展品、STEM内容领域和各种文化主题，以通过非正式STEM展品有效地吸引夏威夷土著和太平洋岛民。这项工作的成果将通过向社区利益团体、时事通讯和媒体聚光灯以及Hulili：夏威夷福祉多学科研究等出版物的年度介绍在当地传播。这一综合研究与实践项目由推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)方案资助，该方案支持以下项目：(A)促进研究和实践，考虑STEM非正式学习在公平和归属STEM中的作用；(B)促进STEM个人和教育的成功；(C)促进公众参与科学发现；(D)培养对STEM职业的兴趣；(E)创建和加强有效非正式STEM学习的理论和经验基础；(F)提高社区活力；和/或(G)加强科学交流以及公众对STEM和STEM过程的参与和了解。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。

Over the past few decades, the science museum field has been working toward better understanding of and approaches to designing exhibits that reflect more diverse ways of learning and knowing, and support broader participation in STEM and informal STEM learning. This project, led by the local Hawaiian community organization Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture (INPEACE), will develop and study a Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI) Indigenous-led exhibit design framework. The project team recognizes that developing Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander trust in the scientific enterprise requires building connections that bridge the values and concepts of 'ike kupuna (traditional knowledge) with scientific knowledge systems and contemporary technology. This project stems from pilot and feasibility studies that resulted in three pop-up science exhibitions and laid the groundwork for an initial framework. In collaboration with Kamehameha Schools, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), Discovery Children's Museum-Las Vegas, Honolulu City and County Parks and Recreation, and others, the team will follow the initial framework to develop two exhibitions that are grounded in Indigenous Hawaiian epistemologies and cultural connections to STEM. Responsive to local needs and interests, the exhibits will be designed and delivered as pop-up experiences reaching multiple rural Hawaiian communities and may cover Indigenous systems of star navigation for ocean voyaging, systems of netting for food and water containers, or systems of home design with local and natural materials. Throughout the iterative development of the exhibitions, the project will employ Indigenous Hawaiian and Western research and evaluation methods to study and refine the NHPI Indigenous-led design framework.The culture-first approach of the NHPI Indigenous-led design framework has strong potential to transform the ways that the science museum field is thinking about and doing exhibit design. This project will focus on two research questions: 1) What are the critical elements of an NHPI Indigenous-led design process for culture-based STEM exhibits that are necessary to retain the Indigenous foundation and characteristics of the culture?; and 2) Can an NHPI Indigenous-led exhibition design framework and process result in consistent replication of results in engagement, increased interest, and relational relevance in STEM topics for Native Hawaiians? To answer the first question, the team will prioritize Indigenous epistemologies, participatory approaches, and the integration of Hawaiian and Pacific Islander cultural research and evaluation practices. Data collection and analyses will honor the cultural concepts of mo'oku'auhau (genealogy) and ho'oilina (inheritance), and include traditional assessment models such as ho'ike and 'uniki, which assess learners' acquisition and understanding of knowledge and skills and their ability to demonstrate and communicate such knowledge and skills. Qualitative methods such as interviews, observations, and document analysis will be employed to capture the holistic experiences, contextual understandings, and interconnections within. Practices such as wala'au (talk story) create spaces for open dialogue, where the voices and perspectives of the community, educators, and learners ensure inclusivity, agency, and alignment with Indigenous perspectives. Nune Maila (reflection) exercises will foster self-awareness and critical examination of cultural biases within the research and evaluation teams. These reflection processes align with ancestral methods used to make meaning of acquired knowledge and skills. To answer the second question, the team will use results from summative visitor experience data (n = 40-50 per pop-up exhibition) to understand whether the framework can be consistently applied across multiple exhibits, STEM content areas, and various cultural topics to effectively engage Indigenous Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations through informal STEM exhibits. Results from this work will be disseminated locally though annual presentations to community interest groups, newsletters and media spotlights, and publications such as Hulili: Multidisciplinary Research on Hawaiian Well-Being. Results will also be shared broadly at national and regional conferences and through practitioner-focused publications, such as ASTC Dimensions Magazine.This Integrating Research and Practice project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which supports projects that: (a) contribute to research and practice that considers informal STEM learning's role in equity and belonging in STEM; (b) promote personal and educational success in STEM; (c) advance public engagement in scientific discovery; (d) foster interest in STEM careers; (e) create and enhance the theoretical and empirical foundations for effective informal STEM learning; (f) improve community vibrancy; and/or (g) enhance science communication and the public's engagement in and understanding of STEM and STEM processes.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.