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Board 249: Developing and Creating Affective Knowledge Spaces for Teachers as Advocates for Social Justice

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Topics

Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

7

DOI

10.18260/1-2--42692

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/42692

Download Count

216

Paper Authors

biography

Sabrina Lynette Strong-Nasabal University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

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Sabrina Lynette Strong-Nasabal is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Education, Policy, Organization, and Leadership (EPOL). Her concentrations are Higher Education, also Social Science, and Education Policy. She has an M.S. in Academic Advising and a B.S in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Social Science. She is researching Black middle-class first and second-generation college students' transitions and navigation experiences.

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biography

Lara Hebert University of Illinois, Urbana - Champaign

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Assistant Director of Engineering Outreach and Public Engagement at the University of Illinois. She brings to this position and this initiative expertise in teacher education and curriculum design.

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biography

Meagan C Pollock Engineer Inclusion

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As an engineer turned educator, through her company, Engineer Inclusion, Dr. Meagan Pollock focuses on helping others intentionally engineer inclusion™ in education and the workforce.

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Lynford Goddard University of Illinois, Urbana - Champaign

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Luisa-Maria Rosu

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Luisa-Maria Rosu is the Director of I-STEM (Illinois Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) Education Initiative and a Research Associate in the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A former m

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Abstract

Broadening the talent pool in STEM fields starts with increasing social justice and equity for racially minoritized undergraduates and women. While the demand for STEM workers and high-earning wages provides an excellent opportunity for upward socioeconomic mobility, women and people of color remain significantly underrepresented in most STEM fields (National Science Foundation, 2021; Fry, Kennedy, & Funk, 2021). Centering middle and high school students with racially minoritized backgrounds, [Project Title] aims to better understand practices that increase students’ motivations and capacities in pursuit of careers in STEM fields. Overall, the project aims to develop transformative paradigms for advancing interests, self-efficacy, abilities, and pathways in STEM with a set of three interconnected strategies. • School-based teams consisting of classroom teachers and academic advisors participate in year-round professional learning experiences focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM, as well as a projects-based electrical engineering curriculum. • Participating schools receive resources and technical assistance to establish or expand a STEM club using the strategies and content from the professional learning experiences. • Students from these schools are then eligible to receive scholarships to attend the university’s summer programs for pre-college students interested in STEM. This paper focuses on the professional development component of [Project Title], which supports the creation of affective and knowledge spaces among guidance counselors and teachers as advocates for social justice and equity in STEM education. Using a qualitative case study approach (Baxter & Jack, 2008), we examine what happens when a pair of middle school educators (science teacher and dual language science teacher) develop an after-school STEM club with a specific goal of creating an equitable and inclusive environment for girls and students from racially minoritized backgrounds. Further, we use grounded theory methodology in practice (Chun Tie, Y., Birks, M., & Francis, K., 2019) to process propositions on professional development aspects of [Project Title] programming and its influence on STEM Club design and student experiences.

Strong-Nasabal, S. L., & Hebert, L., & Pollock, M. C., & Goddard, L., & Rosu, L. (2023, June), Board 249: Developing and Creating Affective Knowledge Spaces for Teachers as Advocates for Social Justice Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42692

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