- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 2150622
- First Name Angel
- Last Name Macias
- Institution Illinois Wesleyan University
- Role/Position Current Noyce Scholar
- Proposal Type Workshop
- Workshop Category NA: I am a Scholar/Fellow
- Workshop Disciplines Audience Other:This is a team presentation.
- Target Audience Noyce Master Teachers, Noyce Teaching Fellows, Undergraduate and/or Graduate Noyce Scholars
- Topics Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
- Additional Presenter(s)
Emma McGrath (emcgrath@iwu.edu), Sam Perez (sperez@iwu.edu), Paul Zunkel (pzunkel@iwu.edu), Dr. Maggie Evans (mevans@iwu.edu)
Goals
1) Provide Noyce Scholars with an opportunity to share culturally relevant or engaging instructional strategies with each other. 2) Enhance Noyce Scholars understanding of how to make STEM content relevant to students when teaching within field placements.
Evidence
A critical component of addressing the STEM opportunity gap is for Noyce Scholars to provide rigorous, culturally relevant instruction (Brown, Boda, Lemmi, & Monroe, 2019; Ogodo, 2022; Ladson-Billings, 2023). Previous studies have demonstrated that the explicit discussion of and modeling of culturally relevant pedagogy enhances the likelihood preservice and practicing teachers will act on their knowledge of CRP (Brown, Boda, Lemmi, & Monroe, 2019; Ogodo, 2022). This session is designed to immerse Noyce Scholars in authentic examples of how to integrate engaging and/or culturally relevant instructional strategies into science and math content.
Proposal
Noyce Scholars provide educational opportunities to students who too frequently have been denied access to rigorous STEM coursework. A critical component of addressing the STEM opportunity gap is for Noyce Scholars to provide rigorous, culturally relevant instruction (Brown, Boda, Lemmi, & Monroe, 2019; Ogodo, 2022; Ladson-Billings, 2023). Previous studies have demonstrated that the explicit discussion of and modeling of culturally relevant pedagogy enhances the likelihood that preservice and practicing teachers will act on their knowledge of CRP (Brown et al., 2019; Ogodo, 2022). This session is designed to immerse Noyce Scholars in authentic examples of how to integrate engaging and/or culturally relevant instructional strategies into science and math content. The session will start with a quick overview of research-based benefits of relevant STEM content for middle and high school students. Then, small groups will brainstorm ways to make specific STEM lessons more relevant to young learners. Finally, four Noyce Scholars will model specific culturally relevant instruction in STEM classes. For example, scholars will show how to connect the concept of homeostasis to a discussion of inequities within different communities’ access to water, food, and other essential resources to reach a level of stability. In another example, scholars will highlight how they taught math in a bilingual setting and related the concept of inverse relationships to students’ real lives.
