The attached evaluation is of the A2A (Awareness to Action) Planning Workshop held February 21-23 in two locations simultaneously connected by internet: the University of Colorado, Boulder and Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. It was made possible thanks to a collaboration of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) and EcoArts Connections, with additional assistance from the National Center for Atmospheric Research. A2A brought together 39 natural and social scientists, artists, urban planners, “sustainablists” (e.g. sustainability professionals working in a variety
This guide offers insight into community engagement practices and activity development from our making and equity project, Making Connections. It includes documentation and recommendations for work that is designed to engage community partners as equal partners, and is written most of all for other practitioners.
With snow providing water for about 2 billion people worldwide and playing a major role in the Earth's climate through its high albedo and insulation properties, on-going alterations in global snow resources pose real and extremely expensive societal adaptation/mitigation problems. The project goals are to:
Create opportunities for the public to learn about the vital role that snow plays in climate, water resources, and human lives.
Produce a better understanding of how culture affects informal Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) learning.
The deliverables include:
An outreach program in Alaska that will visit 33 remote native villages;
A 2,000 square foot traveling exhibition on snow produced by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and exhibited at two additional museums during the life of the award;
Learning research, which will examine how the wide variation of cultural relationships to snow impacts learning in museum exhibitions. Each of these components will be evaluated over the course of the project. The travelling exhibition will tour to three museums per year for eight years, with an anticipated cumulative audience of over one million.
The focus on snow will highlight a fascinating yet under-appreciated part of the Earth system. The project aims to educate the public about snow and to produce a more informed and thoughtful public in the face of potential expensive and difficult snow-related societal decisions. Through informative displays, graphics, models, and other material, the project will engage traditionally under-served communities (at Native/remote villages) in Alaska, where a strong cultural connection to snow exists, as well as communities across the U.S. where the connection to snow can range from strong to weak. Across this cultural gradient, the project will explore through oral interviews and surveys the public response to various types and designs of informal science learning (ISL) displays, attempting to isolate and control for the effect of cultural vs. individual response to the materials. Informal learning theory specifies using front-end exploration of individual visitor-content relationships to guide exhibit design. This project's research goal expands that approach to include the effects of cultural engagement with a topic to develop more general tools to guide and improve the design process. The project is led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in collaboration with OMSI researchers from the COSI (Center of Science and Industry), Center for Research and Evaluation (CRE), and evaluators at the Goldstream Group. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. The project has co-funding support from the Office of Polar Programs.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
This article discusses how camp professionals are taking a greater interest in the concept of allyship, a process of unlearning and re-evaluating whereby those in positions of privilege attempt to adopt a stance of solidarity with marginalized groups of people. It includes an annotated list of Indigenous Instructional Programming, which aims to build awareness of programs that can aid camp professionals seeking to build intercultural competency among staff groups and, by extension, work toward a larger goal of determining whether or not indigenous traditions still merit a place at camp.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Stephen FineThomas McIlwraith
resourceresearchPark, Outdoor, and Garden Programs
Science in the Learning Gardens (henceforth, SciLG) program was designed to address two well-documented, inter-related educational problems: under-representation in science of students from racial and ethnic minority groups and inadequacies of curriculum and pedagogy to address their cultural and motivational needs. Funded by the National Science Foundation, SciLG is a partnership between Portland Public Schools and Portland State University. The sixth- through eighth-grade SciLG curriculum aligns with Next Generation Science Standards and uses school gardens as the milieu for learning. This
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Dilafruz WilliamsHeather Anne BruleSybil Schantz KelleyEllen A. Skinner
Slides from the January 30, 2018 Webinar present information for preparing proposals for the NSF INCLUDES Alliance Solicitation (NSF 18-529). Includes a brief description of NSF INCLUDES, an explanation of Collaborative Change strategies and the NSF INCLUDES 5 elements of collaborative change, proposal recommendations, details on the NSF cooperative agreements and the NSF Merit Review criteria, and provides useful resources.
The University of Texas at Austin's Texas Advanced Computing Center, Chaminade University of Honolulu (CUH), and the Georgia Institute of Technology will lead this NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot (DDLP) to establish a model for data science preparation of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) students at the high school and undergraduate levels. The project is premised on the promise of NHPI communities gaining access to, and the ability to work with, large data sets to tackle emerging problems in the Pacific. Such agency over "big data" sets that are relevant to Pacific issues, and contemporary skills in data science, analytics and visualization have the potential to be transformative for community improvement efforts. The effort has the potential to advance knowledge, instructional pedagogy and practices to improve NHPI high school and undergraduate students performance in and attraction to STEM education and careers.
The project team will work to: 1) Increase interest and proficiency in data science and visualization among NHPI high school and undergraduate students through a summer immersion experience that bridges computation and culture; 2) Build data science capacity at an NHPI serving undergraduate institution (CUH) through creation of a certificate program; and 3) Develop and expand partnerships with other organizations with related goals working with NHPI populations. The month-long summer training for 20 NHPI college students, and five NHPI high school students, takes place at CUH and focuses on data science, visualization, and virtual reality, including working on problem sets that require data science approaches and incorporate geographically, socially- and culturally-relevant research themes.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kelly GaitherRosalia Gomez
resourceprojectProfessional Development and Workshops
For the United States to maintain its leading role on the world economic stage, it is essential to strengthen the American workforce in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Our current prosperity and our future success hinge on recruiting, training, and employing the creative and industrious STEM professionals who drive the innovation economy. Strengthening the American STEM workforce depends, in part, on broadening participation to students from demographics that have traditionally been underrepresented in STEM. This NSF INCLUDES Launch Pilot project will foster recruitment, training, and employment for indigenous STEM students, where the term "indigenous" comprises the terms Native American, American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Hawaiian Native. Specifically, this project will support the design and development of a first-of-its-kind network focused on environmental stewardship of indigenous lands. The network will comprise both tribal and government partners and will be organized by three faculty at the University of Colorado-Denver. Student recruitment, training, and employment will be organized around the unifying principle of land stewardship. The focus on land stewardship has been selected not only because it demands the expertise of STEM professionals, but also because land stewardship is among the top motivations for indigenous students considering STEM careers. Accordingly, this work is important on several fronts: It addresses the recognized need for STEM professionals; it broadens participation to students from underrepresented groups; and it provides a test bed for collective action by a first-of-its-kind network of tribal, government, and university partners.
The proposed network will work together to design, deploy, and debug a unique educational program giving students an opportunity to train for employment as tribal liaisons in the environmental field. In particular, this program will address the need for culturally-sensitive, scientifically-trained individuals who can serve as tribal liaisons between tribal and non-tribal organizations, which will allow them to prevent, minimize, or manage environmental incidents through their understanding of STEM principles and organizational dynamics. All students in this educational program will earn a regular four-year STEM degree, but a key feature of the program is that they will also participate in training and internships designed to provide background with nontechnical matters such as cultural awareness, environmental regulations, and organizational dynamics. Additionally, this educational program is designed to support recruitment of indigenous students by (1) providing a clear vision of a high-impact, culturally-relevant professional career and by (2) providing a cultural connection with obtaining a college degree. Taken together, the network aims to increase enrollment, retention, graduation, and alumni activity by indigenous students. Best practices and strategies for collective impact will be used to document achievement of the network in increasing the enrollment, retention, graduation, and alumni activity of indigenous students in higher education and in STEM careers. Continuous feedback will be collected to assess partner engagement and durability, and student satisfaction, performance, and progress. The network is expected to be sustainable because it addresses a demonstrated need; it is expected to be scalable because scientifically aware, culturally-sensitive individuals who can serve as tribal liaisons are needed not only regionally, but nationally.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Timberley RoaneDavid MaysRafael Moreno-SanchezBrenda AllenGrace RedShirt Tyon
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The University of Maine will address the grand challenge of increasing Native American participation in the science,technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) enterprise in an NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot project addressing culturally relevant pedagogy, incorporating Community Elders, Cultural Knowledge Keepers, and mainstream secondary and higher education institutions in the development of STEM pedagogy that can be replicated to other underrepresented and underserved populations. Partners in the effort include the Wabanaki Youth in Science program (WaYS)(a non-profit organization), Salish Kootenai College (a Tribal College), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (a research university), the National Indian Education Association (a non-profit membership organization) and the current NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot project at the University of Maine (the Stormwater Research Management Team (SMART)). This NSF INCLUDES partnership provides students with evidence-based STEM activities involving culturally relevant internships, mentoring, STEM professional development activities and other support. Non-native students will reciprocally participate in Native American learning environments.
The foundation for the project's activities is based on the WaYS program in science education that incorporates Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). The goals of the project are to: 1) create and integrate curriculum that embraces TEK and western science as equal partners; 2)develop and implement protocols to incorporate a continued mentorship program for WaYS and STREAM engineering students; 3)develop a framework to bridge the gap between high school and college; and 4) foster collaboration among Community Elders, Cultural Knowledge Keepers and University of Maine faculty in a model that could be transferred to other communities. Internal and external evaluation activities will add to the scholarly literature on educating Native Americans and non-native students in STEM disciplines. Dissemination of project results will include published peer-reviewed journal articles on newly developed pedagogy and conference presentations at the American Indian Science and Engineering (AISES) national conference, the National Diversity in STEM Conference, National Science Teachers Association, AAAS, ASEE and the National NSF INCLUDES Network.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Darren RancoJohn DaigleMindy CrandallShaleen Jain
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The goal of FLIP (Diversifying Future Leadership in the Professoriate), an NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot, is to address the broadening participation challenge of increasing the diversity of the future leadership in the professoriate in computing at research universities as a way to achieve diversity across the field. According to the 2016 CRA Taulbee Survey, only 4.3% of the tenure-track faculty at PhD-granting universities are from underrepresented minorities. This challenge is important to address because diverse faculty contributes to academia in the following critical ways: serve as excellent role models for a diverse study body, bring diverse backgrounds to the student programs and policies developed by the department, and bring diverse perspectives to the research projects and programs. Further, the focus is on research universities, because in practice, key national leadership roles, such as serving on national committees that impact thefield of computing, often come from research universities.
The shared purpose and broad vision of the FLIP launch pilot is to increase faculty diversity in computing at research universities by increasing the diversity of PhD graduates from the top producers of computing faculty. The focus is on four underrepresented groups in computing: African Americans; Hispanics; Native Americans and indigenous peoples; and Persons with Disabilities. The long-term goal is to pursue this vision through strategic partnerships with those institutions that are the top producers of computing faculty and organizations that focus on diverse students in STEM, as well as partnerships that collectively adopt proven strategies for recruiting, graduating, and preparing a diverse set of doctoral students for academic careers. The purpose of the pilot is to establish a unified approach across the different partners that will build upon proven strategies to develop novel practices for increasing the diversity of the PhD graduates from key institutions, thereby increasing the faculty diversity in computing at research universities. For the pilot, FLIP will focus on recruitment and admissions and professional development for current PhD students.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Valerie TaylorCharles IsbellJeffrey ForbesUniversity of Chicago
The AITSE project, an NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot, will address broadening participation challenges specifically related to engaging American Indians in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. Many Native students decide not to pursue STEM degrees because of their low proficiency in math and science, perpetuating their underrepresentation in STEM fields and hindering technological advancements in their communities. This pilot effort will develop an innovative strategy that integrates the talents and resources of a diverse set of partners, after-school hands-on and Indigenous-based learning/research opportunities, and long-term programming to create a transformative experience to increase Native engagement in the STEM enterprise. The AITSE Network pilot project partners will include, but are not limited to, programs affiliated with a state university, Tribal colleges, Tribal education partners, and regional middle schools.
The project will use the collective impact framework to unite a network of partners to improve STEM engagement for Indigenous youth and their communities. The pilot focuses initially on one reservation in Montana and will expand to seven additional reservations to achieve the following project goals: (1) develop a network of cross-sector partners to collectively impact STEM education in Native populations; (2) increase the competency and positively influence the attitude of Native students in math and science, with a preliminary focus on middle school, through experiential and community-based learning that is culturally relevant, and (3) build community awareness and investment in STEM in Native communities and within Native leadership and governance. The expansion of this pilot project will further develop and reinforce this network to support the success and inclusion of these students through post-secondary study in a STEM discipline, as well as translate a coordinated STEM education pathway model that is infused with indigenous content to Native communities nationwide.
This NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot is to expand the Navajo Nation Math Circle model to other sites, and to develop and launch a network of math circles based on the NNMC model. The Navajo Nation Math Circle model is a novel approach to broadening the participation of indigenous peoples in mathematics that, ultimately, seeks to improve American Indian students' attitudes towards mathematics, persistence with challenging problems, and grades in math courses. Navajo Nation Math Circles bring teachers, students, and mathematicians together to work collaboratively on challenging, but meaningful and fun, math problems. Through this NSF INCLUDES project, additional math circles across the Navajo Nation will be launched and a mirror site in Washington State serving additional tribes (such as Puyallup, Muckleshoot, Tulalip, and Stillaguamish) will be established.
Originating approximately a century ago in Eastern Europe as a means to engage students in mathematical thinking, math circles bring teachers, students, and math professionals together to work collaboratively on challenging, but relevant and interesting, math problems. Navajo Nation Math Circles, established math circles in various Navajo Nation communities, are the foundation of this INCLUDES project. One goal of this effort is to launch a network with the capacity to support the replication and adaption of math circles in multiple sites as an innovative strategy for encouraging indigenous math engagement through culturally enriched open-ended group math explorations. In addition, the Navajo Nation Math Circle model will be expanded to new math circles in the Navajo Nation, as well as in Washington State to serve additional tribes. Cells in the network will implement key elements of the Navajo Nation Math Circle model, adapting them to their particular contexts. Such elements include facilitation of open-ended group math explorations, incorporating indigenous knowledge systems; a Mathematical Visitor Program sending mathematicians to schools to work with students and their teachers; inclusion of mathematics in public festivals to increase community mathematical awareness; a two-week summer math camp for students; and teacher development opportunities ranging from workshops to immersion experiences to a mentoring program pairing teachers with mathematicians.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David AucklyHenry FowlerJayadev Athreya