Collaborative Research: Youth Learning Science and Engineering while Developing Community-based Agency through Resourceful Engagement in STEM

Recent research suggests that when K-12 students engage in science instruction that meaningfully integrates engineering design, they develop a deeper understanding of the content, demonstrate significantly greater learning on assessments, engage more intentionally in classroom instruction, and express enhanced interest in learning STEM subjects. This project will examine middle school students’ learning of earth and physical sciences and their functional understanding of engineering design as they engage in newly developed environmental justice-oriented curriculum units in community-based service projects.

In collaboration with middle school teachers and their students, two STEM units that integrate science inquiry, engineering design, and community-based service projects will be co-designed, implemented, and refined while examining students’ science and engineering learning and their development of science/STEM interest and agency. Each unit will have an environmental justice orientation that develops students’ knowledge, skills, and practices for becoming informed members of society.

The units consider students’ knowledge and experiences as resources for learning science and engineering. Students will have opportunities to learn about the relationship between sociodemographic variables, environmental health risks, and the human impact on Earth systems. Nearly 2000 students will be involved in the project, increasing the participation of minoritized students in STEM.

With asset-based instructional features, the units will be relevant to urban school contexts and adaptable to multiple school contexts.

The goal of this project is to develop cognitively grounded, research-based integrated STEM units that lead to robust learning of science and engineering content/practices and integrate engineering design projects in service to students’ communities. The lessons will be framed around environmental justice issues relevant to students’ experiences and knowledge.

The project involves mixed methods design combining qualitative and quasi-experimental techniques of data collection and analyses. Data from each project year will be used to develop, implement, and revise the program. The team will also develop measures and analyze data of students’ learning of science and engineering.

The program will draw upon resources from NASA’s Earth System Observatory to support science and engineering learning. The project includes professional development for middle school science teachers focused on pedagogical practices and knowledge of science and engineering content. This project will contribute an evidence-based understanding of how cognitively grounded, research-based integrated STEM instruction fosters middle school students’ learning of science and engineering content and practices.

The study will examine theoretically and practically important aspects of science and engineering learning that emphasize the academic strengths that students bring to STEM learning. The project’s environmental justice orientation will extend theoretical models of integrated STEM education and enhance understanding of effective strategies for engaging with local communities on design projects.

This project is funded by the Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) that seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models, and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.

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.