Learning Inquiry and Investigation Through Collaborative Community Science

• In Event: Intersections of Equity, Engineering, and Literacy: Exploring Possible Presents, Building Possible Futures

Abstract

Objectives
This study analyzed a community science project involving STEM-underrepresented Latinx adolescent youths investigating sound pollution in their local environment. Interest in sound pollution originated in a broader community initiative that addressed the well-being of Latinx immigrant families embedded in a larger community of mostly undergraduate students. We explored the richness of interactive and collaborative participation in this project and its role in developing scientific and engineering skills for underserved populations.

Theoretical Framework
The study draws on the community science expert model (Calabrese Barton, Birmingham, Sato, Tan, & S. Calabrese Barton, 2013) which outlines expertise development among youth in informal learning contexts for STEM-underrepresented youths, calling attention to the following key factors: ensuring community relevance; valuing youth expertise; distributed expertise involving local experts; and empowering youth to take meaningful action.
We also include concern for students’ funds of knowledge arising from the extended familial and social networks that are part of youth’s lives (Basu & Barton, 2007), which can be coupled with scientific knowledge and engineering skills to solve practical problems in their community (Betser, Dixon, Martin, Durán, McBeath, Sañosa, Drucker, Perlman, Reas, Refuerzo, Sharma).

Methods and Data
Participants included 15 afterschool center youth attendees (ages 13-17), staff, and undergraduate volunteers, comprising the research team along with graduate student researchers. We used ethnographic methods to observe and track the design process for implementation of the investigation, and drew from critical ethnographic perspectives to maintain a focus on participation, empowerment and social justice (Calabrese Barton, 2001).

We tracked our collaborative team as they made decisions about how to measure, analyze, and represent sound pollution in the local community using a variety of tools. For instance, to emphasize accessibility of tools we encouraged youth to use smartphones as the principal measurement tools, and analyzed data with conventional spreadsheet software.

Data included: video/audio recordings of youths; artifacts such as graphs and an interactive digital map of sounds in the neighborhood; and recorded interviews and pre-post questionnaires targeting learning outcomes.

Results
Qualitative data analysis identified key themes underlying youth participants’ collaborative problem solving and accomplishments, such as motivation to enact social change and present artifacts to the community. Many youth reported that this was their first time participating in a scientific investigation and learning the skills involved in real-world data collection, analysis and presentation.

We facilitated student planning and decision making during their self-directed meetings and encouraged the integration of project activities with ongoing community events. Many students expressed that they experienced high levels of enjoyment and fulfillment during the presentation of the artifacts illustrating their findings at such events.

Significance
This work demonstrates the importance of meaningful collaboration with youths in the conduct of investigations relevant to solving engineering-related problems by enabling them to not only learn from the process of problem solving, but to guide the process itself. Community science projects shows promise for bridging the “disconnect” in science education and community life that disproportionately affects underrepresented youth (Basu & Calabrese Barton, 2007).

Authors

• David J Sañosa, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Jasmine Kyle McBeath, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Richard P. Duran, University of California - Santa Barbara