Negotiating Mutualism: A Comparative Case Study of Researchers and Practitioners Collaboratively Scaling STE(A)M Education Initiatives

• In Event: 25.084 - MTCC Roundtable Session Seven
  In Roundtable Session: 25.084-4 - Implementing and Scaling Science Initiatives

Abstract

In this comparative case study, we explore how two university-based STE(A)M education initiatives negotiated roles and built relationships with partner schools, while engaged in scaling efforts. Using aspects of a framework designed to assess the effectiveness of Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs), we examine the ways the respective initiatives either reproduced traditional transactional relationships, or engaged in more mutualistic partnership practices. This analysis helps illuminate the relationship between scale and mutualism in partnership relationships, and demonstrates how the RPP Outcomes Framework (Henrick et al., 2017) can be adapted to assess the health of a range of collaborative relationships between researchers and practitioners.

Authors

• Sari Widman, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Melia E Repko-Erwin, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Josie Chang-Order, University of Colorado - Boulder

• William R. Penuel, University of Colorado - Boulder