Hacking the System: Digital Technologies, Social Media, and Action Research in a Health Science Classroom

• In Event: "Freedom With and Against Sciences": Social Justice for a More Critical STEM Education

Abstract

Objectives & Research Questions
Research has a critical role in a high school science classroom. However, teaching students the process of conducting research has been slow to consider digital tools and their unique capabilities that students can use to make meaningful connections between their lived experience and scientific inquiry. This study examined the use of social media by students as a tool to conduct research on a health-related topic impacting their school and community. The objective of this study was to understand how educators can use digital tools and technological advancements to better the lives of our students through investigation, research, and connection. Research questions were:
1. How does the use of social media help shape student perception of research?
2. How can existing technological behaviors become the focal point of a science classroom and help educators build a curriculum where students critically engage with research?

Theory
Critical Race Theory (CRT) was used to identify and understand factors that could be contributing to student perceptions of research in the science classroom (Mensah, 2019; Wallace & Brand, 2012). Within a health classroom, there is a tension between white, cisheteronormative ideologies of health education and the different intersectional expressions of student identities. CRT tenets “the challenge to dominant ideology” and “centrality of experiential knowledge” supported research design and analysis to closely examine this tension (Solorzano & Yosso, 2001).

Methods/Source
Main data sources for this qualitative study included: observations in a health science classroom; field notes; and surveys. Students’ pre-assessment survey contained open-ended questions to gain an understanding of how students viewed research methods and how those views impacted their perceptions of engaging their action research projects. Participants received a post-assessment survey at the completion of the research. An impressionistic record was also maintained after each period to reflect on themes, interpretations, and any puzzles or dilemmas that came up during the observations.

Findings & Significance
This research explored how the use of social media shaped student perception of conducting their own research. Findings indicated that students would find the research process more enjoyable if social media is available to help make a personal connection to the content. Instead of looking at the needs of a tech-focused science classroom centered around making students proficient in platforms used in corporate America, curriculum centered in social justice and student experience, alongside digital innovation, can address the pressing needs of students and their diverse families. Including social media in scientific research positively impacts student perception of research, and it is incumbent on educators to meet students where their experiences are and allow them to tap into content in a way that no other generation has before. To hack the current system of science education, this research revealed how educators can utilize social media as a source for providing a counter-story to a typically white-washed, heteronormative subject area and gave minoritized students the ability to see themselves as researchers in a science classroom and their experiences reflected in the content.

Author

• Matt Fitzpatrick