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Restoring Water, Culture, and Relationships: Using a Community-Based Participatory Research Methodology for Engineering Education

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Conference

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Indianapolis, Indiana

Publication Date

June 15, 2014

Start Date

June 15, 2014

End Date

June 18, 2014

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Models of community engagement practices

Tagged Division

Community Engagement Division

Page Count

15

Page Numbers

24.1047.1 - 24.1047.15

DOI

10.18260/1-2--22980

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/22980

Download Count

716

Paper Authors

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Aimee S. Navickis-Brasch University of Idaho, Moscow

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Aimee Navickis-Brasch is a registered professional engineer with over twenty years of practitioner experience in Hydraulic and Stormwater Engineering. The majority of her career was spent working for WSDOT Headquarters Hydraulics and Stormwater Office where she was responsible for providing statewide support including; design, research, training,and policy development. Aimee is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at the University of Idaho with an emphasis in Stormwater Management and Engineering Education. She received her bachelor of science in Mechanical Engineering from Gonzaga University and a master of science in Civil Engineering from Washington State University. She is also an adjunct member of the Civil Engineering Faculty at Gonzaga University where she teaches Stormwater Management and Senior Design.

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Anne Liu Kern University of Idaho, CDA

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Anne L. Kern is an associate professor in curriculum/instruction, science education at the University of Idaho. She researches methodologies in education, specifically in science teaching and learning, science teacher development, and science integration in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Her research focuses on using place-based pedagogies in understanding STEM content, particularly with American Indian students and communities. She is the Principle Investigator for the NSF funded Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers, Back to the Earth.

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Fritz Fiedler University of Idaho, Moscow

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Jillian Rae Cadwell University of Idaho

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Dr. Jillian Cadwell’s research incorporates an interdisciplinary study of ecology and fluid mechanics with a focus on the role of contaminant transport in the ecological health of aquatic environments. Additionally, Dr. Cadwell develops culturally relevant, place-based STEM curriculum for 3rd-6th grade students. Dr. Cadwell currently consults on a $1.2 million NSF grant that she procured in partnership with the University of Idaho faculty in Curriculum and Instruction, UI Extension, and two local Native American Indian Tribes: the Coeur d'Alene (CdAT) and Spokane (ST) tribes. The grant, ITEST, Strategies Project—Back to the Earth (BTTE), is addressing a national call to increase the STEM workforce pipeline by supporting and improving the STEM educational experiences for Native American students. Dr. Cadwell is a member of the grant leadership team with expertise in STEM content, curriculum development, and technology education. The team is using an interdisciplinary framework to reach under-served populations. The BTTE project delivers a culturally relevant and content rich STEM summer and after-school program for students in grades four through six on the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane reservations. Dr. Cadwell coordinates and oversees the development and implementation of the engineering activities for the program curriculum. - See more at: http://www.asee.org/public/conferences/20/papers/7302/view#sthash.eUFrQJ3A.dpuf

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Laura Laumatia Coeur d'Alene Tribe

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Kathy C. Haynie Haynie Research and Evaluation

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Dr. Kathleen Haynie is the Director of Haynie Research and Evaluation (HRE), specializing in STEM educational evaluation and research with an emphasis on PreK-16 science and technology education and assessment, computer science education, and learning environments. HRE currently serves, and has served (since 2009) as the external evaluator for the CS Principles project (Haynie & Packman, 2013; Haynie & Packman, 2014a) as well as the CS4Alabama project (Haynie & Packman, 2014b) and the Back To The Earth project (BTTE: University of Idaho).Dr. Haynie received her Ph.D. in educational psychology from Stanford University and her M.Ed. in educational statistics and measurement from Rutgers University. She has taught at Rutgers University, San Jose State University, and Dominican College. She has 25 years’ experience in educational research and evaluation, utilizing a broad array of methodologies. She started Haynie Research and Evaluation in 2002 and has actively conducted educational evaluations of STEM projects for the past 12 years (www.haynieresearch.com).

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Christine Meyer Coeur d’Alene Tribe Department of Education

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Dr. Christine Meyer is the director of Education for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. During her career in education she has held a number of positions including; Associate Professor, Principle, Special Programs Administration, Teacher Supervisor, and Reading Specialist. She obtained her B.A. in Child Development from Eastern Washington University and both a M.S. and Ph.D. in Education from the University of Idaho.

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Abstract

Restoring Water, Culture, and Relationships; A Community Based Participatory Research Approach Studies indicate community engagement and support for education is a promisingapproach to motivate students and increase academic success rates. Tribal communities however,generally distrust the research process used to inform educational methods. One-way researchersare developing and strengthening partnerships with tribal communities is through Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR), an approach that "equalizes" and engages the communityin research, by relying on a partnership to carry out the research and realize goals. This paper provides a case study where a CBPR approach was utilized to facilitate athree-year NSF-funded grant between a University and a tribal community. The grant focuses ontribal youth in grades 4-6 with the overall goal of developing an indigenous Science,Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) workforce by improving student knowledge andattitudes about STEM. To achieve these goals, an informal STEM curriculum wascollaboratively developed that integrates western science, indigenous knowledge, history, andlocal environmental topics through a “place-based” pedagogical experience. Working with tribalteachers and community members, the curriculum was implemented in a place of tribalsignificance, allowing tribal youth an opportunity to engage and learn about the relevance ofSTEM in their community by developing engineering solutions to local environmental problems. The objective of this case study is to describe how the CBPR was utilized to; 1) developcommunity partnerships 2) develop and implement an engineering curriculum, and 3) evaluatethe effectiveness of curriculum to support grant goals based on both student and communityassessments. Preliminary results of this qualitative evaluation indicate that while the engineeringeducational activities provided youth with a deeper understanding of STEM in their owncommunity, the tribal community felt the partnership with the university was not equal andshould be stronger. Since the program began in fall 2012, this paper summarizes year onefindings as well lessons learned through the CBPR process and plans for future modifications tofurther strengthen the partnership.

Navickis-Brasch, A. S., & Kern, A. L., & Fiedler, F., & Cadwell, J. R., & Laumatia, L., & Haynie, K. C., & Meyer, C. (2014, June), Restoring Water, Culture, and Relationships: Using a Community-Based Participatory Research Methodology for Engineering Education Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--22980

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