RII-BEC: Grounding Science Education in Indigenous Knowledges, Food Systems, and Sustainability

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This project will serve the national interest by increasing Native American student participation and success in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) arena and by improving STEM education for all students. The project will incorporate the use of role models, extensive mentoring interactions, and development of a culturally relevant specialization in an undergraduate STEM major, namely the Sustainability major in the Department of Sustainability and Environment at the University of South Dakota (USD).

Further, the project will be enhanced through the development, implementation, and study of STEM faculty learning communities and training built around innovative, culturally relevant, and evidence-based pedagogies. Project components will provide academic, cultural, and social support for students as they navigate critical transition points in their persistence to graduation.

Project findings and outcomes will provide important contributions to the understanding and mitigation of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on students historically marginalized in STEM, especially students from Indigenous populations. These findings and outcomes will be disseminated at several levels, ranging from local to national.

The underlying goal of the project is to increase enrollment and persistence of Native American students in sustainability-focused STEM education at USD. The project will take a multi-faceted, multi-level approach by: (1) enhancing Native American presence in the STEM faculty; (2) using a multiple-mentor model that provides holistic cultural, academic, social, and financial support to Native American students; (3) offering a new, culturally relevant specialization within the undergraduate Sustainability major; (4) increasing institutional capacity and infrastructure to improve retention and persistence of students who have traditionally been marginalized in STEM education; (5) developing and expanding partnerships with Tribal Colleges, and (6) adding to the knowledge base with respect to the implementation and impact of cultural, academic, social, and financial support systems for Native American students during critical transitions in STEM education.

The project will feature and investigate how project activities impact student persistence and success at several critical transition points that include entering first-year students, entering students from tribal colleges, and beginning masters and doctoral students. Through an extensive evaluation study led by an external evaluator, the impacts of project components and resources will be assessed and new knowledge will be generated, especially in connection with Native American student retention, success, and persistence to graduation.

In addition, new results will emanate from the project regarding how to mitigate the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on students from underrepresented groups. With the employment of interviews, surveys, and pre- and post-questionnaires, the evaluator will implement project evaluation through a developmental, iterative evaluation approach throughout the project to support strategic learning and continuous adaptation and improvement.

Project stakeholders will disseminate results, outcomes, and the developed model framework through publications, professional conferences, and professional communities, including, for example, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

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.