College of Social and Behavioral Science
80 An Autoethnographic Exploration of Minority Inclusion in STEM Curriculum Development
Meikayah Hall; Tabitha Benney; and Reid Taylor
Faculty Mentor: Tabitha Benney (Political Science, University of Utah)
National graduation rates of high school students continue to outpace those of Native American students (Waterman, Lowe, & Shotton, 2023). While research has demonstrated that a wide range of factors play a role in this outcome, our research team theorizes two probable causes to explain this difference: poor integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) within curricula and a need for more diverse voices in developing instructional resources. Our research team investigated these hypotheses by integrating place-based learning into the STEM curriculum and including marginalized undergraduates in creating a STEM curriculum for one K-12 public school on the Wind River reservation, composed of predominately Native American students. Three methods of peer translation were incorporated in creating the curriculum: engaging PowerPoints, relevant companion guides, and explanatory lecture notes. The undergraduates acted as relatable voices to present STEM topics in a more approachable way to high school students (Kerrigan and Harvey, 2021), which was our target audience. To be successful in this task, the research team investigated Tribal values and put them at the forefront of curriculum development. For example, we included mental health information and air quality data specific to the reservation in our curriculum. With our PI already being a credible messenger (an outsider who was trusted by the Tribal community) (Clancey, 1995), the Tribal values were recognized and included in the STEM curriculum. Their values allowed me to reflect on my values, which included practicality, student engagement, and interest in creating a more up-to-date curriculum for the native peoples. I undertook an autoethnographic approach to this research by reflecting on the values and impacts of the research done concerning myself, the research team, the audience, and society.
Based on this background, I hypothesized that inclusion of traditionally absent voices in the coproduction of the curriculum may lead to more engaging content for traditionally underserved students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2022). Being a part of this project opened my eyes to the imbalance in societal, cultural, and academic (professional and educational) spaces. It confirmed my fears that more traditionally underserved voices in academia and service must be heard (National Center for Education Statistics, 2022). Before this project, I also had specific scripts: I cannot do good research, research should be quantitative, and I cannot make a curriculum in 10 weeks. However, these were all dispelled as the project progressed. In addition to the affirmation expressed by the PI and graduate student mentor, I made a topic highly va