The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program

NSF
NSF
  • Home
  • The Program
    • NSF Noyce Program Directors
    • NSF Noyce Program Solicitation
    • Consider Becoming an NSF Noyce Principal Investigator
    • Become a Noyce Scholar or Teacher Leader
      • Noyce Scholar Profiles
      • Noyce Alumni Profiles
    • Voices From the Field Videos
  • Project Locator
    • Select from Map
    • Advanced Search
    • Submit Information
  • In the News
    • In the News
  • Meetings
    • 2022 Noyce Summit
    • 2021 Noyce Summer Events
    • 2020 Virtual Noyce Summit
    • Archived Noyce Summit Materials
    • Noyce Regional Meetings
  • Resources
    • Noyce Track 4 Research Book
    • Proposal Preparation Toolkit
    • Noyce Project Videos
    • Noyce Summit Abstract Catalogs
    • Reports
    • Toolkits
    • ARISE Research Community
  • Contact

Creating Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in STEM

  • Year 2019
  • NSF Award #1660644
  • Registration Current Noyce Scholar

  • First Name Cassie
  • Last Name Campbell

  • Discipline Math
  • Institution Miami University

Abstract

Over the past year I, along with several of my Urban Cohort peers and a faculty member, have worked with a group of 12 middle school girls in a Youth Participatory Action Research Project (YPAR). Mirra, Garcia & Morrell (2016) define YPAR as “the practice of mentoring young people to become social scientists by engaging them in all aspects of the research cycle, from developing research questions and examining relevant literature to collecting and analyzing data and offering findings about social issues that they find meaningful and relevant” (p. 2). YPAR was originally inspired as a mode of consciousness-raising by the Brazilian educator and activist Paulo Freire (Foster-Fishman, Law, Lichty & Aoun, 2010). We began the year by having conversations about assets and challenges in our lives and our communities. When reflecting on what issues they felt were important to their community, the girls identified drug abuse and bullying. They chose these topics because they saw them as prevalent issues having real consequences for their peers, their neighbors, and themselves. Most importantly, the girls wanted to understand “WHY?”: Why bully? Why do drugs? Through a process of dialogue, action, and reflection, the girls explored symptoms and root causes of each issue. This exploration involved reading, researching, reaching out to community organizations, creating surveys, and much more. As a Noyce Scholar, I was able to learn what it meant to create responsive curriculum and how to use issues that the girls identified to teach mathematical concepts. For example, when we were created a survey for students in the school to learn about other students’ experiences with bullying, we wanted to include a section on demographics. This led to a discussion on fractions, converting fractions into percentages, and analyzing data in a real world context. In doing such, I learned what it meant to create authentic culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995). In this poster I share this and other examples on how to create STEM instruction rooted in the lived experiences of youth.

What’s New

  • 2022 Noyce Summit
  • Noyce by the Numbers: 20 Years of Noyce
  • Proposal Preparation Webinars
  • Frequently Asked Questions for the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program
  • Become a Noyce Scholar or Teacher Leader
  • Consider Becoming an NSF Noyce Principal Investigator
  • Noyce Alumni: Where Are They Now?

Check out our ARISE website for research & opportunities!

Checking In

NSF

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant Numbers DUE-2041597 and DUE-1548986. Any opinions, findings, interpretations, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of its authors and do not represent the views of the AAAS Board of Directors, the Council of AAAS, AAAS’ membership or the National Science Foundation.

AAAS

The World's Largest General Scientific Society

  • About Noyce Program
  • AAAS ISEED
  • Subscribe to ARISE
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
© 2023 American Association for the Advancement of Science