Cultural Competence or Deficit-Based View? A Qualitative Approach to Understanding Middle School Students' Experience With Culturally Framed Engineering

• In Event: 25.086 - Sheraton Roundtable Session One - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 25.086-6 - Critical Issues in Schools, Schooling, and Culture

Abstract

Science educators and curriculum developers have drawn from theoretical perspectives that ground engineering problems in real world context to engage students in academic content. As engineering curricula continue to include global context and perspective, not much research has been done on the effects of this contextualization. In this qualitative study, students were tasked to build a portable fish cooker for a developing country. We found that the unit was cultivating deficit-based views of the people and places being presented in the lesson instead of fostering cultural competence. While more engineering curricula continue to be developed with global contextualization, we critically evaluate what effects this contextualized framework has when used with students.

Authors

• Khomson Keratithamkul, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Justine Kim, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Gillian Roehrig, University of Minnesota