Using a Culturally Relevant Engineering Design Framework to Increase Teachers' Community-Situated, Justice-Centered Engineering Instruction (Poster 4)

• In Event: Supporting Teacher Learning of Justice-Centered Ambitious Practice

Abstract

Underrepresentation in Indigenous engineering participation (NCSES, 2021) arises from a lack of community relevance, failure to highlight Indigenous engineering contributions in classrooms, and little reference to how engineering can ameliorate local issues and increase community sovereignty (Kant, et al., 2015). North Dakota K-12 schools serve substantial Indigenous student populations, but many teachers are themselves non-Native and struggle to embed community-situated cultural knowledge into their STEM curriculum, often already lacking self-efficacy and sufficient professional development (PD) with implementing science and engineering instruction aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (Kang, McCarthy, & Donovan, 2019; NGSS Lead States, 2013). Our study explores how on-going PD and mentorship, using our Culturally Relevant Engineering Design (CRED) Framework to situate instruction, can increase teachers’ self-efficacy with implementing community-situated engineering design tasks to foster students’ STEM engagement.

Our project is situated within justice-centered science pedagogy (Morales-Doyle, 2017) in that it orients authentic, community-based engineering tasks within a critical framework that promotes cultural connections and identifies social inequities. To provide a guide for K-12 teachers, our research team designed the CRED Framework, adapted from UTeachEngineering (Guerra, 2012) and integrating culturally relevant and responsive pedagogies (Gay, 2002; Ladson-Billings, 1995), and North Dakota Native American Essential Understandings (ND DPI, 2015). Our design is further guided by Bandura's Social Learning Theory (1977), focusing on the components of PD that support teachers’ self-efficacy and enduring changes in practice. In our model, teachers move from learners to mentors over a two-year cycle and engage in elements considered essential to increasing self-efficacy: observing an expert, practicing relevant skills, receiving feedback, and experiencing success and accomplishment.

Our mixed methods study explores the impact of our PD model and CRED Framework on teachers’ self-efficacy with implementing culturally relevant and justice-centered engineering design tasks. Data sources collected include quantitative instruments such as the Teaching Engineering Self-Efficacy Scale (Yoon Yoon et al., 2014), the Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale (Siwatu, 2007), and the Culturally Congruent Instruction Scale (Sievert et al., 2013) in combination with qualitative measures, such as written reflections, focus group interviews, classrooms observations, and analysis of engineering lesson plans.

Our poster presents preliminary findings from Year 1 of our project, including: 1) significant increases in teachers’ self-efficacy with designing and implementing engineering tasks within their classrooms; 2) increased confidence with connecting to their local communities; 3) increased awareness of local cultures and histories; and 4) greater intent to design instruction that integrates students’ lives and social inequities experienced by different cultural communities. Further, while engineering tasks support students’ engagement with finding solutions to local issues, teachers report using the CRED Framework and a culturally relevant approach across all content areas.

This study contributes to literature on justice-centered science pedagogy in that it expands this body of knowledge to focus on engineering specifically within Native American communities. Continuing in Year 2, we aim to show how our CRED Framework and model of PD can support increased teacher self-efficacy with implementing justice-centered STEM resulting in greater engagement and participation in engineering by Indigenous students in their future trajectories.

Authors

• Julie Robinson, University of North Dakota
  Presenting Author

• Frank Bowman, University of North Dakota
  Presenting Author

• Bethany Klemetsrud
  Presenting Author

• Emine Ozturk, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author