NSF Award
2411594
Today’s schools are experiencing increasing cultural and linguistic diversity and facing the challenge of meeting the learning needs of culturally and linguistically diverse children, such as Latinx learners in dual language immersion programs. This project will support bilingual students by recognizing and incorporating their cultural heritage into science education. Further, it will advance the understanding of how integrating Indigenous knowledge with Western science in dual language immersion programs can improve science identity and education for Latinx youth in middle schools, many of whom are also of Indigenous heritage. The project will also evaluate the impact of this curriculum on students and teachers, fostering a more inclusive and holistic approach to learning. Digital media and curricular materials developed through this collaboration will be widely available, making this innovative curriculum accessible to dual language classrooms across the U.S. Ultimately, this work seeks to enhance science education accessibility for marginalized students, particularly Latinx youth, and support their representation and engagement in STEM fields.<br/><br/>The project team will support 11 middle school teachers and 2,500 students across southern states providing them with resources that acknowledge and incorporate multiple epistemologies of indigenous communities. The research team will employ qualitative methods, including thematic, content, and ethnographic analyses of meetings with Indigenous collaborators, the curricular development process, professional learning for teachers, teaching practices, and student artifacts. Assessment and evaluation plans to involve examining how teachers adapt their instruction to include Indigenous knowledge and measuring the curriculum's impact on student engagement and achievement in STEM. Further dissemination of the digital curriculum can increase the impact of this project. Through the weaving of indigenous forms of scientific knowledge and Western science, the project team anticipates providing more spaces for participation in STEM and developing additional interest among historically marginalized Latinx youth toward STEM employment pathways.<br/><br/>This collaborative project is funded by the EDU Racial Equity in STEM Education activity, which is supported by the Directorate for STEM Education (EDU). This activity supports research and practice projects that investigate how considerations of racial equity factor into the improvement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce. Awarded projects seek to center the voices, knowledge, and experiences of the individuals, communities, and institutions most impacted by systemic inequities within the STEM enterprise. Programs across EDU contribute funds to the Racial Equity activity in recognition of the alignment of its projects with the collective research and development thrusts of the four divisions of the directorate.<br/><br/>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.
