2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) courses are central to producing a highly skilled 21st-century workforce. However, many of these courses are missing the diversity, equity inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) tools and curricular frameworks that build diverse, strong, and capable learners. The primary author is a science teacher who has worked with diverse urban populations for almost ten years. They want to ensure their students experience the classroom and STEM teaching in a way that increases their capacity and potential as students, learners, and individuals. As such, the primary author participated in countless hours of researching, discussing, attending fellowships and professional developments, and looking for an answer to what DEIB looks like in a high school science classroom. Unfortunately, many of the available resources devoted to helping teachers create environments that foster these skills are solely theoretical or geared directly toward the humanities. In this paper, the primary author offers a framework developed through action research(1) of how STEM educators can ensure their students can access these critical skills to be agile problem solvers in all their coursework and careers.

The science teacher's framework for a DEIB-aware classroom consists of five elements: intentional grouping, student-driven labs, project-based assessments, presentations, and reflections. Part 1 is intentional grouping: Almost every career-oriented role requires collaboration skills; setting students up for success using homogeneous student-selected groups is an essential start to any culturally aware STEM classroom(2). Part 2 is student-driven labs, which allow these groups to make conclusions driven by experiments driven by their curiosity, and design respects each student's intellectual and problem-solving process(3). Part 3 is project-based assessments that transform lab experiences into elevating tools that can impact their communities, in which every student can find multiple unique avenues to success and can elevate practice to be culturally sustaining(4). Part 4 is presentations that allow students to practice communicating results to create arguments and provide feedback, which is a powerful way to restart the scientific process(5). Finally, Part 5 is reflections which ensure students have the space to do the metacognition necessary for the experiences to impact their trajectories by allowing purposeful reflection time is critical to success.

In collaboration with CISTEME365, an NSF-funded ITEST grant with the University of Illinois, the primary author completed an Action Research for Equity Project that informed and validated the framework. While the paper primarily focuses on introducing the framework, we will include some student data that informed its development. Using a combination of case study and autoethnography as methodologies, this paper seeks to outline a practical five-element solution for building resilient, flexible, and affirmed STEM students.

1. Hunter, W. J. (2007). Action research as a framework for science education research. Theoretical Frameworks for Research in Chemistry/Science Education, 146-164.
2. Briggs, M. (2020). Comparing academically homogeneous and heterogeneous groups in an active learning physics class. NSTA.
3. Yusiran, Siswanto, Hartono, Subali, B., Ellianawati, Gumilar, S., & Sartika, D. (2019). Whats wrong with cookbook experiment? A case study of its impacts toward learning outcomes of pre-service physics teachers. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1280(5), 052047.
4. Brown, M., Thompson, J., & Pollock, M. (2017). Ensuring Equity in Problem-Based Learning. NAPE. Gap, PA.
5. Brown, M., Tucker, C., & Pollock, M. (2017). Inspiring Courage to Excel through Self-Efficacy. NAPE. Gap, PA.