64.059 - Embodying STEM: Dance as a Means to Access Science, Math, and Technology

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Scholars across many disciplines recognize the power of bodily experiences in shaping cognition. While a number of scholars suggest that dance represents an important type of embodied cognition, the notion of dance as a site for learning is underexplored. This symposium addresses dance as a site for learning, paying particular attention to the possibilities for building access to learning for underrepresented students in STEM. Symposium participants will share current research using ethnographic approaches to uncover design principles for STEM learning in dance that attend to rich learning in the disciplines, provide opportunities for building positive identities and self-concept, and uncovering STEM knowing developed through the practice of dance.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Arts and Learning

Chair

• Dionne N Champion, TERC

Papers

• Embodied Physics: Dance as a Pathway for Learning and Identity for Black Girls in Science - Folashade Cromwell Solomon, TERC; Tracey Wright, TERC; Larry Pratt

• Physical Research: The Mathematical Potential of Dancers' Professional Practices - Lauren Vogelstein; Rogers P. Hall, Vanderbilt University; Corey Brady, Vanderbilt University

• Black Girls STEAMing Through Dance: Examining STEAM Literacies, STEAM Identities, and Self-Concept - Ayana Allen-Handy, Drexel University

Discussant

• Ann Rosebery, TERC