CAREER: Alaska Native Belonging in High School Math and Science Classrooms

University Of Alaska Anchorage Campus, Anchorage AK

Investigators

Abstract

Alaska Natives are overwhelmingly underrepresented in and underprepared for engineering pre-college and college degree programs. There is a crucial need to help Alaska Native pre-college students become better prepared for engineering degree programs. Previous research indicates that a feeling like they belong in engineering is important for Alaska Native engineering students to succeed in high school preparatory engineering courses and engineering degree programs. This CAREER project aims to investigate belonging among Alaska Native high school students in engineering preparatory classrooms. The project will lead to new teaching approaches that support Alaska Native students prepare for engineering, and increase the diversity of the engineering profession. This study seeks to 1) determine community characteristics that Alaska Native students and Alaskan teachers describe as important or necessary for developing a sense of belonging among Alaska Native students in high school engineering preparatory classrooms; and 2) determine how a sense of belonging influences Alaska Native high school students to make decisions to take advanced engineering preparatory courses in high school. Through theoretical frameworks of sense of community and belonging, this study will use a narrative approach to construct a model for design of educational innovations for Alaska Native students. This model will contribute to engineering education researchers' understanding of Alaska Native underrepresentation and under-preparation in pre-college and college engineering degree programs. The research team will interview current or recently graduated Alaska Native high school students and Alaskan teachers from diverse Alaska Native communities. Based on the research findings, the team will design and implement a professional development course for Alaskan K-12 teachers. The intent is to offer the course in multiple years following the end of the grant to extend its impact. This work will be used to augment the existing pre-college and college components of the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program (ANSEP) by being directly implemented into engineering classrooms, engineering preparatory classrooms, and hands-on engineering recruiting activities. The results of this research will also be disseminated through engineering education and Native education research journals and conferences.