Redefining "how-to" adopt culturally-responsive curricula in introductory biology courses

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research-in-Progress Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Cultural Relevance and Responsiveness in Curriculum and Teaching Practice (Table 2)

Abstract

When successfully implemented, culturally-responsive pedagogy (CRP), the integration of students' untapped cultural capital into course curricula, positively exemplifies messages of diversity and inclusion, increases sense of belonging and self-efficacy, and contributes to persistence and retention in STEM, among other impacts. However, since its conception, CRP and its subsequent iterations have lacked a sustainable, concrete pathway that bridges a conceptual understanding of its core principles to the reality of operationalizing it in a given context. In my 3-part, exploratory study, I utilize an interdisciplinary approach to propose the integration of the Psychology construct, possible selves, as the foundational anchor point for designing and implementing clear, concrete CRP materials in an introductory biology context.

Author

• Angelita Rivera, Stanford University