Guardians of the Living Water: Advancing STEM Learning in Informal Settings Across Apsaalooke Communities in the Western United States

蒙大拿州的Apsáalooke(乌鸦印第安人)民族以及美国各地的其他土著社区不成比例地遭受与水有关的环境危害的负面后果，例如受污染的水。在这个项目中，五年级和六年级的APSáalooke青年将作为变革的推动者，调查他们所在社区的水问题，并将调查结果提交给所在社区。他们将在一个非正式暑期项目的背景下进行这项与水有关的研究，该项目旨在整合土著和西方对科学的观点。例如，青年将学习水上遗址的文化意义，同时在APSáalooke长老和科学专业人员的指导下，练习收集和分析与这些遗址相关的数据的方法。在暑期计划期间，土著高中生和部落大学生将指导年轻人。为了开发这一项目，项目团队将与科学领域的长老和Apsáalooke社区成员进行访谈，以确定一个融合了土著和西方科学的项目所需的特征。他们将利用这些访谈的结果来开发一个多媒体工具包，其中包括一套全面的材料，使其他研究人员和非正式教育工作者能够实施类似的计划。这个工具包将包括关于水科学和水质的信息，暑期项目的课程计划和相关资源，为高中青年担任导师做准备的专业发展材料，为家庭成员提供的促进在家与孩子互动的讲义，等等。项目团队将研究工具包的实施如何影响参与者与水相关的知识和对科学的态度。该工具包和相关的经验发现将通过服务于美国印第安人的地方、地区和国家专业网络广泛传播。蒙大拿州立大学将与小大角学院合作，为五年级和六年级的Apsáalooke青年实施和研究非正式暑期方案，以及为土著高中生和部落大学生实施导师方案。年龄较大的学生将参加为期四周的实习计划，在该计划中，他们将学习如何进行水研究，并促进突出APSáaloke观点和文化实践的科学活动。高中生和部落大学生将与APSáalooke长辈和科学专业人员合作，为五年级和六年级的青少年提供和实施一个为期两周的暑期计划。该计划将使用先前与长老和其他社区利益攸关方协商开发的工具包材料。经过验证的前后调查的回归分析，以及对利益相关者采访的归纳分析，将用于研究辅导计划如何影响高中生和部落大学生对科学和职业兴趣的态度，以及暑期计划如何影响五年级和六年级学生与水相关的知识。研究小组还将研究青年参与该计划如何影响他们的家庭和社区成员的水相关知识。该项目将形成一个多媒体工具包，向公众免费提供，并通过专业网络广泛传播，其中规定了其他非正规教育工作者和研究人员如何为土著青年实施类似的辅导方案和暑期方案。最终，该项目将通过编写经验性检验的材料，推动土著青年及其社区的非正规教育实践，从而扩大参与范围。该项目由高级非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划资助。作为加强非正式环境中学习的总体战略的一部分，AISL项目寻求推进非正式环境中STEM(科学、技术、工程和数学)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，在非正式环境中推进对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。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。

The Apsáalooke (Crow Indian) Nation in Montana, as well as other Indigenous communities across the United States, disproportionally experience negative consequences from water-related environmental hazards, such as contaminated water. In this project, fifth- and sixth-grade Apsáalooke youth will act as change agents through investigating water issues in their communities and presenting findings to their communities. They will conduct this water-related research in the context of an informal summer program designed to integrate Indigenous and Western perspectives on science. For example, youth will learn the cultural significance of water sites while also practicing methods for collecting and analyzing data relative to those sites, guided by Apsáalooke elders and science professionals. During the summer program, Indigenous high school students and tribal college students will mentor the youth. To develop this program, the project team will conduct interviews with elders and Apsáalooke community members in scientific fields to determine the desired features of a program that integrates Indigenous and Western science. They will use the findings from these interviews to develop a multimedia toolkit, which includes a set of comprehensive materials that will enable other researchers and informal educators to implement similar programs. This toolkit will include information about water science and water quality, lesson plans and related resources for the summer program, professional development materials to prepare the high school youth to act as mentors, handouts for family members to facilitate at-home engagement with their children, and more. The project team will research how the implementation of the toolkit influences the participants’ water-related knowledge and attitudes toward science. The toolkit, and the associated empirical findings, will be disseminated widely through local, regional, and national professional networks that serve American Indians. Montana State University, in partnership with Little Big Horn College, will implement and research an informal summer program for Apsáalooke youth in the fifth and sixth grades, as well as a mentorship program for Indigenous high school students and tribal college students. The older students will participate in a four-week internship program in which they learn about conducting water research and facilitating science activities that foreground Apsáalooke perspectives and cultural practices. The high school and tribal college students will partner with Apsáalooke elders and science professionals to facilitate and implement a two-week summer program for the fifth- and sixth-grade youth. This program will use the toolkit materials that were previously developed in consultation with elders and other community stakeholders. Regression analyses of validated pre- and post-surveys, as well as inductive analyses of interviews with stakeholders, will be used to study how the mentoring program affects the high school and tribal college students’ attitudes toward science and career interests, and how the summer program affects the fifth- and sixth-graders’ water-related knowledge. The research team will also study how youth participation in the program affects their family and community members’ water-related knowledge. This project will result in a multimedia toolkit, freely available to the public and widely disseminated through professional networks, which specifies how other informal educators and researchers can implement similar mentorship programs and summer programs for Indigenous youth. Ultimately, this project will broaden participation through resulting in empirically-tested materials that advance practice in informal education for Indigenous youth and their communities. This project is funded by the Advanced Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program. As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the AISL program seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) 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.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.