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致力于更好地理解和设计展览的方法，这些展览反映了更多样化的学习和认识方式，并支持更广泛地参与STEM和非正式的STEM学习。该项目由夏威夷当地社区组织太平洋原住民教育与文化研究所（INPEACE）领导，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。项目团队认识到，培养夏威夷原住民/太平洋岛民对科学事业的信任需要建立联系，将“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，结果是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Kamehameha学校、夏威夷大学马诺阿分校、科学技术中心协会（ASTC）、拉斯维加斯发现儿童博物馆、檀香山市和县公园和娱乐中心等机构合作，遵循最初的框架，开发两个以夏威夷土著认识论和STEM文化联系为基础的展览。根据当地的需求和兴趣，展览将以快闪式体验的形式设计和提供给多个夏威夷农村社区，可能包括海洋航行的土著导航系统，食物和水容器的网系统，或使用当地和天然材料的家居设计系统。在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原住民主导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进行展览设计的方式。该项目将侧重于两个研究问题：1)NHPI土著主导的基于文化的STEM展览设计过程的关键要素是什么，这些要素是保留土著基础和文化特征所必需的？2) NHPI原住民主导的展览设计框架和流程能否在夏威夷原住民的STEM主题参与、兴趣增加和关系相关性方面产生一致的复制结果？为了回答第一个问题，该团队将优先考虑土著认识论、参与式方法，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mo'oku'auhau（宗谱）和ho'oilina（继承）的文化概念，并包括传统的评估模型，如ho‘ike和’uniki，评估学习者对知识和技能的获取和理解，以及他们展示和交流这些知识和技能的能力。定性的方法，如访谈，观察和文件分析将被用来捕捉整体的经验，上下文的理解，和内部的相互联系。wala'au（谈话故事）等实践为公开对话创造了空间，在这里，社区、教育工作者和学习者的声音和观点确保了包容性、能动性和与土著观点的一致性。Nune Maila（反思）练习将在研究和评估团队中培养自我意识和对文化偏见的批判性检查。这些反思过程与祖先用来使获得的知识和技能具有意义的方法一致。为了回答第二个问题，该团队将使用总结性访客体验数据的结果（每个弹出式展览n = 40-50）来了解该框架是否可以一致地应用于多个展览、STEM内容领域和各种文化主题，从而通过非正式的STEM展览有效地吸引夏威夷原住民和太平洋岛民。这项工作的成果将通过向社区利益团体、通讯和媒体聚光灯以及《Hulili：夏威夷福祉的多学科研究》等出版物的年度报告在当地传播。结果还将在国家和区域会议上广泛分享，并通过以从业者为重点的出版物，如《ASTC维度杂志》进行分享。该整合研究与实践项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划支持以下项目：(a)促进研究和实践，考虑非正式STEM学习在STEM公平和归属方面的作用；(b)促进个人和教育在STEM方面的成功；(c)促进公众参与科学发现；(d)培养对STEM职业的兴趣；(e)为有效的非正式STEM学习创造和加强理论和经验基础；(f)改善社区活力；及/或(g)加强科学传播和公众对STEM和STEM过程的参与和理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.