- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 1950183
- First Name Lara
- Last Name Gengarelly
- Registration Faculty/Administrator/Other
- Discipline Life Sciences, STEM Education (general)
- Role Principal Investigator (PI)
- Presenters
Lara Gengarelly, Stephen Hale, Christopher Bauer, Karen Graham, Judy Sharkey, Ruth Varner, University of New Hampshire
Need
Incorporating community assets into STEM instruction situates student learning within relevant and meaningful contexts for students. This approach is based on an asset-based perspective and draws on the Funds of Knowledge concept (Moll et al. 1992). As part of this approach teachers modify existing curriculum to include students’ funds of knowledge (i.e., background knowledge, accumulated life experience, everyday skills, and worldviews) into the classroom learning experience. Research indicates that integration of funds of knowledge improves student learning, especially for culturally and economically diverse students (Lee et al. 2015, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2018).
Research Questions
How do BELS in NH Noyce teacher leaders design community responsive curriculum through the incorporation of community assets and students’ lived experiences?
Approach
BELS in NH Fellows’ Process for Designing Community Responsive Lessons 1. Examined the literature related to the Funds of Knowledge concept and asset-based perspectives and acquired toolkit of relevant resources (e.g., EQUALS rubric that emphasizes the importance of meaningful contexts for students) 2. Explored communities where students and their families live through community asset-mapping and identified potential community assets (multiple times) 3. Identified an existing STEM-based lesson to modify and integrate connections between curriculum concepts and students’ experiences, interests, and motivations 4. Created new types of lessons that integrate community assets and connect to students’ worlds, guided by the EQUALS rubric (Lee et al. 2015) 5. Received feedback from team about new lessons using the Critical Friends Protocol 6. Taught lessons while being observed by a colleague at least once 7. Received feedback from team about enacted lessons 8. Reflected on new lessons and considered further modifications for future instruction
Outcomes
Community Responsive Curriculum Examples from BELS in NH Fellows (Master Teachers): -Cooking foods familiar to students to teach chemical vs physical changes -Researching local fish to teach marine biology -Waste water treatment plant tour to teach water quality -Local grocery store unit price inventories to teach science and mathematical concepts -Guest speakers, such as naturalists, to teach local habitats and species adaptation -Making French fries to study water potential
Broader Impacts
Broader impacts included increased teacher self-efficacy, reinvigorated perspectives, teacher leadership opportunities, and novel culturally responsive curriculum for middle and high school New Hampshire students in 3 high-needs school districts.
