Community Labs: Deep Root Spaces for BioMaking

• In Event: AERA Virtual Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Informal Learning Environments Research SIG Poster Session

Abstract

Community labs are informal learning environments that provide an accessible commons of knowledge and material resources to support sustained participation in nascent areas of life science. Despite their growing significance, we know little about the affordances these informal environments offer for STEM education. Drawing on surveys and focus group interviews, we explore a group of these spaces to examine what lab members have to say about their participation and learning. Findings suggest that these spaces may foster a communal ethos that enables personally and socially relevant scientific pursuits. We discuss these findings in terms of their implications for advancing access, engagement, and education in an era when demographic and intellectual diversity is fundamental to STEM field advancement and civic engagement.

Authors

• Justice Toshiba Walker, University of Texas at El Paso

• Lydia Stamato

• Nisa Asgarali-Hoffman

• Foad Hamidi

• Lisa Z. Scheifele, Loyola University Maryland