Intercultural awareness, communication and competence have become critical professional skills. Teachers at all levels need these skills to ensure that all students in their classroom have equitable access to learning, and to effectively prepare their students to engage in an increasingly diverse and multicultural world. The US Department of Education has made broader global skills for students a priority and has charged colleges,and schools to provide new learning opportunities and course work to successfully develop these skills in teachers. Similarly, Some argue that international travel is integral to teacher preparation, encouraging a sense of “otherness” and an appreciation for the role of human difference, addressing misconceptions and stereotypes, and challenging teachers’ understanding of their “professional self.” Additionally, It is well established that the US has a need for enhanced participation as well as increased racial and gender diversity in the STEM Fields, particularly engineering. Teachers are critical to inspire and motivate students to consider pursuing STEM. However, stereotypes, and bias can impact how they engage with students, and who they believe “has what it takes to be an engineer.” Enhancing the cultural competence of teachers can help mitigate the bias and stereotypes, and help ensure more equitable access for students to being inspired to pursue STEM. To address these issues, two regional universities collaborated on a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Teachers grant to provide transformative international and intercultural experiences for teachers focused on human-centered design and appropriate technology for developing countries. Integrated throughout this experience, is professional learning aimed at developing the cultural competence of the teachers, and coaching to help the teachers integrate this learning, as well as their engineering experiences into their classrooms. This paper will summarize key findings from two cohorts of participants with a focus on how this experience impacted the cultural competence of the teachers.
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This content will become publicly available on February 25, 2025
Enhancing the Cultural Competence of K-12 STEM Teachers through a Global Research Experience
Intercultural competence has become a critical skill for most professions, but particularly for
those that involve working with people from diverse backgrounds. Teachers at all levels need
intercultural competence to ensure that every student in their classroom has equitable access to
learning and to effectively prepare their students to engage in an increasingly diverse and
multicultural world. The United States Department of Education has made broader global skills
for students a priority and has charged colleges and schools with providing new learning
opportunities and course work to successfully develop these skills in teachers. Similarly, some
argue that international travel is integral to teacher preparation, encouraging a sense of
“otherness” and developing an appreciation for the role of human difference, addressing
misconceptions and stereotypes, and challenging teachers’ understanding of their “professional
self.” Additionally, it is well established that the US has a need for enhanced participation and
increased racial and gender diversity in the STEM fields, particularly engineering. Teachers are
critical to inspire and motivate students to consider pursuing STEM. However, stereotypes and
bias can impact how teachers engage with students, and who teachers believe “has what it takes
to be an engineer” leading to differentiated support and encouragement to excluded identities.
Enhancing the cultural competence of teachers can help mitigate the bias and stereotypes, and
help ensure more equitable access for students to being inspired to pursue STEM. To address
these issues, two universities collaborated on a National Science Foundation Research
Experience for Teachers grant to provide transformative international and intercultural
experiences for teachers focused on human-centered design and appropriate technology for
developing countries. Integrated throughout this experience was professional learning aimed at
developing the cultural competence of the teachers, and coaching to help the teachers integrate
this learning, as well as their engineering experiences, into their classrooms. This paper will
summarize key findings from the second cohort participants with a focus on how this experience
impacted the cultural competence of the participants.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1855239
- PAR ID:
- 10527526
- Publisher / Repository:
- 2024 Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD)
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Arlington, Virginia
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Two regional universities have completed the first round of a three-year collaborative NSF Research Experience for Teachers grant focused on human-centered design and appropriate technology for developing countries. In this transformative research experience, teachers travel to global community partner sites to engage in learning projects aimed to enhance their understanding of engineering and intercultural awareness. Upon return from their immersion experience, the teachers complete an intensive, two-week curriculum development workshop. The teachers then pilot the resulting lesson(s) in their classroom, make revisions as necessary, and share their finalized curriculum with other STEM educators via the TeachEngineering website. Throughout the experience, teachers benefit professionally through integrated development activities and cultivate greater self-awareness and understanding of culture. First, this paper will summarize the project to date. Then, we present observations from participants’ reflections, semi-structured interview, and pre/post intercultural assessments. Next, we highlight the collaborative outreach and capacity-building efforts which resulted in a new community partner and immersion site. Finally, we discuss the unique opportunities and challenges associated with navigating international travel and immersion experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.more » « less
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Two regional universities have completed the first round of a three-year collaborative NSF Research Experience for Teachers grant focused on human-centered design and appropriate technology for developing countries. In this transformative research experience, teachers travel to global community partner sites to engage in learning projects aimed to enhance their understanding of engineering and intercultural awareness. Upon return from their immersion experience, the teachers complete an intensive, two-week curriculum development workshop. The teachers then pilot the resulting lesson(s) in their classroom, make revisions as necessary, and share their finalized curriculum with other STEM educators via the TeachingEngineering website. Throughout the experience, teachers benefit professionally through integrated development activities and cultivate greater self-awareness and understanding of culture. First, this paper will summarize the project to date. Then, we present observations from participants’ reflections, semi-structured interviews, and pre/post intercultural assessments. Next, we highlight the collaborative outreach and capacity-building efforts which resulted in a new community partner and immersion site. Finally, we discuss the unique opportunities and challenges associated with navigating international travel and immersion experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.more » « less
