HSI Planning Project: Amplifying Climate Resilience Curriculum Using Informal Learning Opportunities for Undergraduates

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 Planning Project will build critical institutional structure and facilitate thoughtful planning for the future creation of STEM learning experiences that draw on the cultural capital of Latinx students at three HSIs (Nevada State College, University of Nevada Las Vegas, and College of Southern Nevada) in the field of climate change. The key to academic persistence and commitment to a science career is feeling a sense of belonging and confidence in one’s abilities, and students from marginalized groups often have little experience with messaging that is accepting of their self-identity and is encouraging of their ability to achieve careers in STEM fields.

This project will discuss the use of engaging informal learning activities and innovative gamification of science content in collaboration with peers, for the future design of curriculum that promotes Latinx students’ STEM identities and increases student excitement regarding careers related to climate change science and education. Moreover, these informal learning experiences will increase the baseline level of understanding of climate change, as well as allowing the students to share their knowledge with the community and challenge misconceptions about what it means to be a “STEM person”.

This planning project will conceptualize four components, including 1) institutional support structure, 2) internship collaboration, 3) learning outcome development, and 4) technology platform for evaluation, dissemination of results, and program assessment. Particularly, it will solidify learning outcomes through collaborative discussions and workshops with stakeholders.

With the lens of regenerative agriculture, this project will plan for the eventual design of culturally relevant, problem-driven informal activities in a self-paced curriculum to challenge students to evaluate their own lifestyle choices in the context of climate resilience. The expected results of this project include supporting Latinx student understanding of foundational science concepts underlying climate change and creating institutional relationships and a curricular framework upon climate equity and sustainability.

Broader impacts include advancing understanding of how informal learning experiences can increase the diversity of students choosing careers in STEM, particularly through the inclusion of a wide diversity of stakeholders in designing learning outcomes. Results will be disseminated through published manuscripts, website design, social media outreach, and a workshop to finalize the next steps in the project.

The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs.

Projects supported by the HSI Program will also draw from these approaches to generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.

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.