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1. Examining the Relationships in Embodied and Social Positioning for STEM Learning. In de Vries, E., Hod, Y., & Ahn, J. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 15th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2021. (pp. 843-850). Bochum, Germany: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

   Parr, E.D. (July 2021, Proceedings of the 15th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2021. (pp. 843-850). Bochum, Germany: International Society of the Learning Sciences.)

   de Vries, E. (Ed.)

   This symposium explores the empirical relationship between two theoretically distinct uses of the construct of positioning in the learning sciences. To do so, it brings together different studies that examine teaching and learning in STEM classrooms that incorporate both embodied and social aspects of positioning. These examples contribute to answering the question: How does simultaneously considering students’ and teachers’ embodied movements and social positioning offer new insights into studies of STEM classroom learning? Together, these studies show how different types of positioning are tightly related to one another, suggesting that more research is needed to understand the complex relationships between the physical, social, and epistemic positions in research and design of learning environments. 

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2. Embodying STEM: Learning at the intersection of Dance & STEM

   Solomon, F. (July 2021, International Conference of the Learning Sciences)

   de Vries, E. (Ed.)

   This symposium addresses dance as a site for STEM learning. We present papers from five research projects that each sought to engage youth in embodied STEM learning using dance, exploring the power of creative embodied experiences and the body’s potential as an expressive tool and resource for learning. We show how dance activities expanded access to STEM and supported sense-making; how dancer and dance-making practices were leveraged to support computational thinking, modeling, and inquiry; and how moving bodies in creative ways helped to generate new insights by allowing for new perspectives. Across our work, we seek to understand the multiple, rich learning opportunities that emerge from working across the arts and sciences, dance and STEM. Together our research shows that attending to opportunities for STEM engagement and learning through dance practices can broaden access to learning and engagement in STEM for all. 

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3. Towards Embodied Wearable Intelligent Tutoring Systems

   Rasul, I. (April 2023, Lecture notes in computer science)

   Embodied cognition posits that human-environment interaction positively impacts thinking and learning, making it a valuable pedagogical tool. Technology in teaching and learning has seen tremendous maturation, such as the development of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). However, most ITS provide static learning experiences that do not incorporate embodiment, movement, and interaction with the space around the learner. This paper examines the results of using an embodied tutoring system across three case studies with different dimensions of embodiment. In all cases, we found trends highlighting how embodied tutoring systems can support learning. We also discuss different ways to incorporate embodiment into future research on ITS. 

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4. Critical Faculty and Peer Instructor Development: Core Components for Building Inclusive STEM Programs in Higher Education

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.754233  

   von Vacano, Claudia; Ruiz, Michael; Starowicz, Renee; Olojo, Seyi; Moreno Luna, Arlyn Y.; Muzzall, Evan; Mendoza-Denton, Rodolfo; Harding, David J. (May 2022, Frontiers in Psychology)

   First-generation college students and those from ethnic groups such as African Americans, Latinx, Native Americans, or Indigenous Peoples in the United States are less likely to pursue STEM-related professions. How might we develop conceptual and methodological approaches to understand instructional differences between various undergraduate STEM programs that contribute to racial and social class disparities in psychological indicators of academic success such as learning orientations and engagement? Within social psychology, research has focused mainly on student-level mechanisms surrounding threat, motivation, and identity. A largely parallel literature in sociology, meanwhile, has taken a more institutional and critical approach to inequalities in STEM education, pointing to the macro level historical, cultural, and structural roots of those inequalities. In this paper, we bridge these two perspectives by focusing on critical faculty and peer instructor development as targets for inclusive STEM education. These practices, especially when deployed together, have the potential to disrupt the unseen but powerful historical forces that perpetuate STEM inequalities, while also positively affecting student-level proximate factors, especially for historically marginalized students. 

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5. Building Consensus for Integrated STEM and Social-Emotional Development: From Convening to Implementation

   Allen, Patricia J.; Noam, Gil G. (May 2023, Connected Science Learning)

   Roberts, K. (Ed.)

   Uniting social, emotional, and academic development is necessary to ensure all young people develop the thinking and feeling skills needed to succeed in a STEM-driven future. Scientific discoveries and technological innovations are transforming society, and while they may improve our quality of life, they also introduce social and ethical quandaries that young people must be equipped to navigate. For example, there are both opportunities and risks to using artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and renewable/alternative energy sources. Although the public discourse supports bringing STEM and social-emotional development (SED) together, and demands evaluation and measurement of outcomes, integrated STEM+SED in educational research, practice, and policy is largely abstract and aspirational. Given that jobs of the future will be STEM-focused and will require SED/21st-century skills—such as working in diverse teams, solving complex problems, and persevering through failures—it will be important to implement and measure STEM+SED together at the teaching and learning levels. To move the field toward meaningful integration of STEM+SED practices and skills, we convened a National Science Foundation (NSF)–funded virtual conference: Mapping Connections Between STEM and Social-Emotional Development (SED) in Out-of-School Time (OST) Programs. This conference—attended by 49 stakeholders from STEM and SED research, policy, and practice—focused on identifying the measurable STEM+SED qualities and skills important for youth success and prioritized by both fields. From this conference emerged consensus for a common frame to explore STEM+SED integration—focusing on Active Engagement, Agency, Belonging, and Reflection—which we and our partners are using to generate knowledge, resources, and tools to advance the integration of STEM+SED in formal and informal learning environments. The preliminary findings and recommendations from this conference provide a starting point for areas to prioritize, explore, and set the stage for more rigorous, relevant, andhigh-quality research on integrated STEM+SED. We begin by telling the story of our conference, including our initial focus on OST, our choice of the term “SED,” and our approach. We then show how discoveries during and after the conference push this essential STEM+SED agenda forward in research and practice. We conclude with recommendations by and for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to promote synergy between the fields of STEM and SED across all learning environments. 

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