skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


  • NSF Public Access
  • Search Results
  • The role of epistemological beliefs in STEM faculty’s decisions to use culturally relevant pedagogy at Hispanic-Serving Institutions
Title: The role of epistemological beliefs in STEM faculty’s decisions to use culturally relevant pedagogy at Hispanic-Serving Institutions
Abstract Background The growing understanding of the oppressive inequities that exist in postsecondary education has led to an increasing need for culturally relevant pedagogy. Researchers have found evidence that beliefs about the nature of knowledge predict pedagogical practices. Culturally relevant pedagogy supports students in ways that leverage students’ own cultures through three tenets: academic success, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness. If STEM practitioners believe that their disciplines are culture-free, they may not enact culturally relevant pedagogy in their courses. We investigated how and in what forms 40 faculty from mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology departments at Hispanic-Serving Institutions enacted culturally relevant pedagogy. We used the framework of practical rationality to understand how epistemological beliefs about the nature of their discipline combined with their institutional context impacted instructors’ decision to enact practices aligning with the three tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy. Results In total, 35 instructors reported using practices that aligned with the academic success tenet, nine instructors with the cultural competence tenet, and one instructor with the sociopolitical consciousness tenet. Instructors expressed and even lauded their disciplines’ separation from culture while simultaneously expressing instructional decisions that aligned with culturally relevant pedagogy. Though never asked directly, six instructors made statements reflecting a “culture-free” belief about knowledge in their discipline such as “To me, mathematics has no color.” Five of those instructors also described altering their teaching in ways that aligned with the academic success tenet. The framework of practical rationality helped explain how the instructors’ individual obligation (to the needs of individual students) and interpersonal obligation (to the social environment of the classroom) played a role in those decisions. Conclusions Instructors’ ability to express two contradictory views may indicate that professional development does not have to change an instructor’s epistemological beliefs about their discipline to convince them of the value of enacting culturally relevant pedagogy. We propose departmental changes that could enable instructors to decide to cultivate students’ cultural competence and sociopolitical consciousness. Our findings highlight the need for future research investigating the impacts of culturally relevant pedagogical content knowledge on students’ experiences.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1928596
PAR ID:
10327864
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
International Journal of STEM Education
Volume:
9
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2196-7822
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; (, International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education)
    Abstract Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) seeks to improve equity in instruction and leverage students’ experiences by promoting academic success, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness. We examine instructors’ perceptions of student identity to understand the ways undergraduate mathematics instructors are enacting or experiencing barriers to enacting CRP. Interviews with ten mathematics faculty at Hispanic-serving institutions identified two potential barriers to enacting CRP: first, instructors’ hesitance to communicate about student identity, especially with respect to race and gender; and second, instructors holding epistemologies that mathematics is culture-free. Despite these barriers, almost all interviewees implemented the academic success tenet of CRP. These barriers may prevent instruction around cultural competence and sociopolitical consciousness, which are the two tenets that most capitalize on students’ informal knowledge, identities, and cultural experiences. Changing discourse by taking more risks in conversation and inviting a more diverse range of people to the undergraduate mathematics community are potential ways to address these barriers. 
    more » « less
  2. ; (, Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education)
    Despite recent interest and pressing need, we lack a clear model of culturally relevant, responsive, sensitive teaching in university STEM departments. Most culturally relevant efforts within STEM education address actions individual professors can take within their own classrooms and mentoring, rather than describing how to go about enacting cultural transformation at the departmental level. In this article, we propose the application of the Ladson-Billings model of culturally relevant pedagogy to promote an inclusive culture within undergraduate STEM departments. The model consists of three components: academic success, cultural competence and integrity, and critical consciousness. We define each component and describe what it looks like and how it can be used to guide departmental transformation, including examples in biology, physics, mathematics, and computer science departments at our own institution. This model can help guide faculty committed to creating departments where all kinds of STEM students can thrive, provided they are willing to work hard. 
    more » « less
  3. ; (, Chemistry Teacher International)
    Abstract There is increasing emphasis on incorporating complex global challenges such as sustainable development and environmental justice in college chemistry instruction. Addressing these issues requires a community of engaged citizens who are empowered to enact change in their communities and value diverse perspectives. Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) is a framework that may support college chemistry faculty in integrating these social justice aims while also advancing equity within their own classrooms. However, college chemistry instructors’ knowledge and implementation of CRP remains understudied. This research explores how college chemistry instructors (n = 6) from different institutions across the United States describe and operationalize CRP. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews indicates that the instructors in this study are flexible in their teaching approach, cultivate a classroom community of collaboration and belonging, and affirm that all students can be successful in chemistry. These practices are foundational elements of CRP, but they must also be coupled with knowledge of students’ cultural backgrounds and awareness of sociopolitical issues that impact students. A framework that considers the context of college chemistry is proposed to support instructors’ adoption of all of the tenets of CRP. Future work will further develop and examine the use of our framework for chemistry faculty development. 
    more » « less
  4. ; (, Science Education)
    In this paper, we synthesize existing literature on Culturally Relevant Science Teaching (CRST), more specifically the third tenet of CRST-developing students' sociopolitical or critical consciousness. While there is research on this third tenet, our review of the literature reveals that this tenet is understudied and underutilized. We offer our conceptual framework and an illustrative example to demonstrate how teachers can practically implement the third tenet of CRST to engage and empower students in science. We hope that the ideas and examples shared in this piece will help teachers foster students' sense of sociopolitical consciousness and advocacy within the walls of the classroom and beyond. We also urge researchers to continue producing research on this important topic so that practitioners can use this information to develop students' sociopolitical/critical awareness, reflections, and actions. 
    more » « less
  5. (, Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE))
    Seagroves, Scott; Barnes, Austin; Metevier, Anne; Porter, Jason; Hunter, Lisa (Ed.)
    The lack of diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is a complex problem, and one dimension is the experiences that students from marginalized groups often have in classroom environments. Students cite their struggles to negotiate between their own cultures and STEM’s cultures as a reason for why they do not feel a sense of belonging and identity as a person in STEM. To address these challenges, educators and researchers have proposed various frameworks to transform education. In this article, I re-examine the ISEE Equity & Inclusion (E&I) Theme in comparison to culturally relevant pedagogy and culturally responsive teaching models. While these frameworks have many common elements, including their emphasis on students’ achievements, building on students’ cultural assets, and providing scaffolding for content and practices, they differ in their focus on cultural pride and identities of critical consciousness. Drawing on these differences, I suggest directions for instructors who are familiar with the ISEE E&I Theme on how to make their approach to equity and inclusion more robust. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email