[PDF] Contested Domains Of Science And Science Leaerning In Contemporary Native American Communities eBook

Author : Nancy Brossard Parent
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 36,33 MB
Release : 2012
Category : Electronic dissertations
ISBN :

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This dissertation provides a critical analysis of three informal science education partnerships that resulted from a 2003-2006 National Science Foundation grant titled, "Archaeology Pathways for Native Learners" (ESI-0307858), hosted by the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. This dissertation is designed to contribute to understandings of learning processes that occur within and at the intersection of diverse worldviews and knowledge systems, by drawing upon experiences derived from three disparate contexts: 1) The Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona; 2) The A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center on the Zuni Reservation in Zuni, New Mexico; and 3) Science learning camps at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center for Native youth of southern New England. While informal science education is increasingly moving toward decolonizing and cross-cutting institutional boundaries of learning through critical thinking and real-world applications, the construction of "science" (even within diverse contexts) continues to be framed within a homogenous, predominantly Euro-American perspective. This study analyzes the language of Western science employed in these partnerships, with particular attention to the use of Western/Native binaries that shape perceptions of Native peoples and communities, real or imagined. Connections are drawn to broader nation-state interests in education, science, and the global economy. The role of educational evaluation in these case studies is also critically analyzed, by questioning the ways in which it is constructed, conducted, and evaluated for the purposes of informing future projects and subsequent funding. This study unpacks problems of the dominant language of "expert" knowledge embedded in Western science discourse, and highlights the possibilities of indigenous knowledge systems that can inform Western science frameworks of education and evaluation. Ultimately, this study suggests that research methodologies and epistemologies that acknowledge and integrate indigenous ways of knowing can advance and broaden Western constructions of science, the academy, and educational research and praxis on a national and global scale.

Author : Nancy Brossard Parent
Publisher :
Page : 492 pages
File Size : 12,50 MB
Release : 2012
Category :
ISBN :

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This dissertation provides a critical analysis of three informal science education partnerships that resulted from a 2003-2006 National Science Foundation grant titled, "Archaeology Pathways for Native Learners" (ESI-0307858), hosted by the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. This dissertation is designed to contribute to understandings of learning processes that occur within and at the intersection of diverse worldviews and knowledge systems, by drawing upon experiences derived from three disparate contexts: 1) The Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona; 2) The A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center on the Zuni Reservation in Zuni, New Mexico; and 3) Science learning camps at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center for Native youth of southern New England. While informal science education is increasingly moving toward decolonizing and cross-cutting institutional boundaries of learning through critical thinking and real-world applications, the construction of "science" (even within diverse contexts) continues to be framed within a homogenous, predominantly Euro-American perspective. This study analyzes the language of Western science employed in these partnerships, with particular attention to the use of Western/Native binaries that shape perceptions of Native peoples and communities, real or imagined. Connections are drawn to broader nation-state interests in education, science, and the global economy. The role of educational evaluation in these case studies is also critically analyzed, by questioning the ways in which it is constructed, conducted, and evaluated for the purposes of informing future projects and subsequent funding. This study unpacks problems of the dominant language of "expert" knowledge embedded in Western science discourse, and highlights the possibilities of indigenous knowledge systems that can inform Western science frameworks of education and evaluation. Ultimately, this study suggests that research methodologies and epistemologies that acknowledge and integrate indigenous ways of knowing can advance and broaden Western constructions of science, the academy, and educational research and praxis on a national and global scale.

Author : Marianne Achiam
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 245 pages
File Size : 29,36 MB
Release : 2021-08-09
Category : Science
ISBN : 3030742660

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This book discusses a number of ways in which out-of-school science education can uniquely engage learners with ‘wicked’ global problems such as biodiversity loss and climate change. The idea for the volume originated in discussions among members of the ESERA special interest group on "Science Education in Out-of-School contexts". It emerged from these discussions that out-of-school institutions and experiences offer opportunities for critical engagement in wicked problems that go far beyond what is possible solely in the science classroom. The book opens with a principled discussion of the nature of wicked problems and what addressing them involves. This introduction clarifies key terms and ideas to create a coherent backdrop for the rest of the book. Subsequent chapters discuss the challenges of designing educational experiences to address wicked problems, as well as the teaching and learning that takes place. The authors offer perspectives across a range of out-of-school environments such as science centres, natural history museums, botanical gardens, geological sites, and local communities. The book concludes with a chapter that synthesises the findings from the various contributions and points to the messages for educators. Finally, the editors outline an exciting research agenda to build knowledge of education addressing wicked problems. The intended audience of the book includes teachers, educators/facilitators, teacher educators, curriculum developers, and early career researchers as well as established researchers.

Author : Keith James
Publisher : U of Nebraska Press
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 18,13 MB
Release : 2001-01-01
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780803225954

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Education among American Indians has lagged behind that of almost all other groups in both the United States and Canada, and it generally has not offered what Indian communities need. It is this disturbing state of affairs?along with the intractable realities, unexamined assumptions, and cultural conflicts and misunderstandings behind it?that Science and Native American Communities confronts. Representing an unprecedented gathering of Native American professionals working in the sciences and advanced technology, the book combines theory and practice, firsthand experience and strategic thinking, in a provocative exploration of the uneasy meeting ground between science and Native American communities. ø In highly personal, deeply informed, and frequently moving essays, the authors wrestle with a legacy of mistrust and violence. They ask: Is a common ground between science and Native America possible? The problems and prospects that emerge from such a meeting, and that these essays address, include the impact of science and technology on Native lands and environment; economic and technological opportunities and challenges for reservation communities; and the differences and similarities between Native and scientific thought and practice. The authors not only showcase different reactions to the consequences of science, but also energetically propose strategies for renegotiating Native communities' relationships with science, seizing control of their destinies, and moving forward in the twenty-first century.

Author : Douglas L. Medin
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 295 pages
File Size : 49,92 MB
Release : 2014-01-03
Category : Science
ISBN : 0262319446

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Analysis and case studies show that including different orientations toward the natural world makes for more effective scientific practice and science education. The answers to scientific questions depend on who's asking, because the questions asked and the answers sought reflect the cultural values and orientations of the questioner. These values and orientations are most often those of Western science. In Who's Asking?, Douglas Medin and Megan Bang argue that despite the widely held view that science is objective, value-neutral, and acultural, scientists do not shed their cultures at the laboratory or classroom door; their practices reflect their values, belief systems, and worldviews. Medin and Bang argue further that scientist diversity—the participation of researchers and educators with different cultural orientations—provides new perspectives and leads to more effective science and better science education. Medin and Bang compare Native American and European American orientations toward the natural world and apply these findings to science education. The European American model, they find, sees humans as separated from nature; the Native American model sees humans as part of a natural ecosystem. Medin and Bang then report on the development of ecologically oriented and community-based science education programs on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin and at the American Indian Center of Chicago. Medin and Bang's novel argument for scientist diversity also has important implications for questions of minority underrepresentation in science.

Author : Venni V. Krishna
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 314 pages
File Size : 41,90 MB
Release : 2024-09-30
Category : Science
ISBN : 1040116876

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This book focuses on the historical and sociological dimensions of scientists working in laboratories in India, offering insights into the historical, sociological and policy factors that shape scientific pursuits. It illuminates the challenges, accomplishments and the evolving role of science in societal development. The author initiates a broader discourse on the interplay between scientific advancements, societal contexts and policy frameworks. The book fosters a deeper understanding of science's role in shaping India’s social fabric and contributing to the global scientific dialogue. It also explores issues such as brain drain, science activism and the conflict between university- and government-run models of science. Lucid and topical, the book will be of considerable interest to both social and natural scientists, as well as the general academic community, including research students in science, technology, history, social history of science, science and technology studies and innovation policies.

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 167 pages
File Size : 50,63 MB
Release : 2016-11-14
Category : Education
ISBN : 0309447569

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Science is a way of knowing about the world. At once a process, a product, and an institution, science enables people to both engage in the construction of new knowledge as well as use information to achieve desired ends. Access to scienceâ€"whether using knowledge or creating itâ€"necessitates some level of familiarity with the enterprise and practice of science: we refer to this as science literacy. Science literacy is desirable not only for individuals, but also for the health and well- being of communities and society. More than just basic knowledge of science facts, contemporary definitions of science literacy have expanded to include understandings of scientific processes and practices, familiarity with how science and scientists work, a capacity to weigh and evaluate the products of science, and an ability to engage in civic decisions about the value of science. Although science literacy has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of individuals, individuals are nested within communities that are nested within societiesâ€"and, as a result, individual science literacy is limited or enhanced by the circumstances of that nesting. Science Literacy studies the role of science literacy in public support of science. This report synthesizes the available research literature on science literacy, makes recommendations on the need to improve the understanding of science and scientific research in the United States, and considers the relationship between scientific literacy and support for and use of science and research.

Author : Melinda A. Howard
Publisher :
Page : 270 pages
File Size : 13,53 MB
Release : 2017
Category : Engineering
ISBN : 9780355235401

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In response to growing national interests to promote participation of Native Americans in STEM fields, the focus of this dissertation is to explore culturally effective means of science education for Native American youth. Provided in the context of a three-year summer STEM project conducted with tribal youth, Back to the Earth, themes of community and land-based science education are examined as ways of providing meaningful and authentic learning opportunities for Native youth. Specifically, this thesis reports how integrating community (natural and human) with place-specific and land-based learning opportunities into modern science education can be accomplished through honoring communal narratives and fostering community capitals that work to achieve tribal visions of stewardship and sustainability. The concepts of land and community are examined through two studies. First, I use anti-oppressive inquiry to analyze my role as a curriculum designer, educator, and researcher during the first year of the Back to the Earth camp. Student inclusion of Bigfoot into a STEM activity provoked my recognition and appreciation of Indigenous knowledge systems, the role of communal narrative in Indigenous education, and the importance of displacing cognitive imperialism. Second, an exploration of youth science attitudes and aspirations resulting from activities with tribal Natural Resources scientists provides evidence that youth gain science-related social and cultural capital from these encounters. With many youth desiring to protect the land for the benefit of the community, some through careers with Natural Resources, these findings reinforce tribal educational goals of encouraging scholarship, membership, stewardship, and guardianship of its youth. These studies add to the body of knowledge related to Indigenous science education by providing alternatives to the cognitive imperialism of mainstream Western education. Indigenous knowledge systems can be privileged in science education by honoring the role of natural and human communities in a land-centered approach. Including such approaches in science education could result in opportunities that increase Native American participation in STEM.

Author : UNESCO
Publisher : UNESCO Publishing
Page : 82 pages
File Size : 26,58 MB
Release : 2017-09-04
Category :
ISBN : 9231002333

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This report aims to 'crack the code' by deciphering the factors that hinder and facilitate girls' and women's participation, achievement and continuation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and, in particular, what the education sector can do to promote girls' and women's interest in and engagement with STEM education and ultimately STEM careers.