Project Profile

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase student motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by developing and testing an innovative approach to elementary school STEM education.   Young students will investigate stories from their families and local communities that help them better understand, appreciate, and become interested in how STEM knowledge and skills directly impact their lives and could lead to potential career paths.  Utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) and digital mapping technologies, students in grades 3-5 at two public elementary schools will conduct multi-modal research projects to illuminate examples of STEM engagement in their own communities. With the aid of their teachers and university-based researchers, students will examine the science and mathematics embedded within the activities and resources of their local communities. Students will interview family and community members about how they use mathematics and science in their daily lives, and the focus of their scientific and mathematical inquiries will vary by grade level to align with the specific science content emphasized across grades and the developmental levels of the students. Teachers will incorporate student findings into class-related activities, and students, working closely with their teachers and researchers, will produce multimedia artifacts that include an interactive map embedded with student-created pins linking each student's STEM story project, including visuals, audio files and reports. These artifacts will be showcased during school-wide presentations to engage parents and other community members in breaking down racial and cultural divides. Student research will also be posted on the school websites and shared with other educators via social media and publications.

This research and development project will examine student, teacher, and community outcomes associated with implementation of a STEM curriculum model that aims to frame student home environments as STEM-rich communities.  Project research will be guided by the following question: How do racially, ethnically and socio-economically diverse elementary school communities' investigation, analysis and dissemination of students' STEM Stories affect: (a) Elementary students' science, technology, engineering, and mathematics engagement and achievement outcomes?  (b) Teachers' understanding of STEM and their instructional practices, particularly as these relate to teachers' diverse students? And (c) Educators, parents and students intercultural understanding of the ways in which math and science exist in all students' lives? Researchers will collect achievement data and conduct pre- and post- intervention interviews with educators, students and parents to measure changes in STEM motivation and engagement as well as understandings of the contributions and utilization of science and mathematics across separate racial and ethnic communities. The overarching goal of this project is to strengthen school, family, neighborhood, and community ties through STEM learning and engagement. The project aims to develop student research and STEM skills, knowledge, and dispositions; to develop and enhance elementary teacher curricular and instructional repertoires around STEM concepts; and to enhance and broaden parent understanding of STEM to include the diverse community contexts that students in these schools call home.  The project will consist of five stages: Inquiry, Community Exploration, Pedagogical Incorporation, Public Engagement, and Digital Storytelling.  During the Inquiry phase, students will work with teachers and researchers to identify and explore STEM concepts meaningful to them in their schools, homes, and neighborhoods, and design a research protocol for the next phase.  During the Community Exploration phase, students will interview key representatives of STEM in the local community, including family members, community leaders, and neighbors, and consolidate data on interactive, web-based maps that convey their research findings. In the Pedagogical Incorporation phase to follow, there will be a series of workshops to help students develop STEM stories and design instructional tasks and projects centered around them.  During the Public Engagement phase and the Digital Storytelling phase, students design and share artifacts related to STEM stories developed by students and analyzed by teachers and project assistants. A mixed methods approach will be used to analyze quantitative associated with survey and assessment data and to interpret qualitative analysis of artifacts and interviews.

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.