Thank you for your thoughtful questions, Stephen. We define and will assess STEM literacy through students’ proficient use of science and engineering practices to learn and communicate learning. Our work expounds upon how culturally-sustaining STEM increases multiple literacies including disciplinary, content, multicultural, and critical literacies. For example, an experience the team facilitated over the summer camp was construction and operation of aquaponics kits. Over the multiple day experience, students were exposed to design thinking and principles to construct the kits and to plan what fauna and flora to produce. They researched and discussed Gullah Geechee culinary and medicinal uses of chosen plants; this required students to interpret multiple texts including technical texts, narrative texts, and oral accounts. The students utilized technology to not only collect, analyze and synthesize data from kit operation and digital sources, but they also utilized applications to identify plant species in a Gullah Geechee garden. They critically analyzed historical applications of aquaculture by studying rice cultivation practices of enslaved Gullah ancestors and communicated through poster presentations during a community symposium how aquaponics innovates these practices.  All of these activities required students to practice the eight science and engineering practices as defined within “A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas” (NRC 2012). As ours is a feasibility study, ongoing work would include incorporating or developing tools to measure students' growth in use of these practices. Do you have suggestions for such tools or any additional questions?

Thank you for your comment, George! Our inservice and preservice teachers experienced thirteen synchronous professional learning sessions with 23 Gullah Geechee community member consultants over a six month period as they co-developed the summer academic experience for the students. In addition to meeting with community members, the teachers also participated in a one-day cultural immersion experience and asynchronous modules regarding CS-STEM, aquaponics and Gullah Geechee culture in preparation for the summer camp. It is worth mentioning that both inservice teachers are Gullah Geechee community members who brought their own insiders' perspectives to the curriculum development and implementation.

Thank you for viewing our video and taking time to share your perspective, Emmanuel! As Gullah culture is not monolithic, there are multiple sources for additional information on current and historical contributions to the Southeastern United States. Our team is particularly interested in diverse STEM enterprise participation and how to convey such in curriculum for learners of all ages. We will be publishing from this work soon!

This is a great line of inquiry George, and it is something we will definitely pursue! We have collected pre-institute data via the application and interview. We have a plethora of data to analyze for knowledge gains in both cultural and STEM content through synchronous and asynchronous session reflections, curriculum development and enactment, post-institute interviews and presentations. Would you suggest additional data to collect for future interations?

It see3ms from what you wrote that you collected lots of data about the understanding of Gullah culture by the participants early.  It would be too late now to suggest any "ore-involvement" knowledge or attitudes.  I'm confident you'll follow up with similar data collection later.

"Ore-involvement" is a novel term for me, George. Can you give a few sources for my review?

Regina,

Apologies for my typos.  I was interrupted as I was typing and sent the message without checking it.  I meant to write "pre-involvement" (before involvement).

No worries! I understand now! Thank you George!

Thank you for your feedback, Francheska! There are many cultural groups that have not been celebrated for STEM enterprise participation, so we believe our work in supporting educators to incorporate diverse perspectives in their curriculum is paramount!

Thank you for taking the time to review and provide feedback on our video, Courtney! We hope that our work will make space for and positively influence the reclamation and celebration of culturally diverse perspectives within STEM enterprise participation.

Thank you for taking time to review our video, Kimberly. We think our work opens a space to begin conversations about the contributions that Gullah people have made to STEM practices, careers, disciplines and scholarship historically and culturally. Most school curricula is lacking in this work and it's important that all kids are presented with multiple perspectives about the many contributions that people of color have made to STEM disciplines.

Thank you for taking time to review our video, Lucia. It appears that we have similar beliefs about recognizing the significance of this work and what it means historically and culturally. We welcome any insights you might want to share.

Thank you Keith for your insight. Your comment is just what we want to hear, i.e., that scholars will look at our work through a different lens to consider the historical and cultural nature of STEM, and what contributions under served and underrepresented groups have made that impact our society. In our case we're focusing on the contributions of Gullah people.

Thank you for viewing our video and for your comments, Venecia! We welcome your insights, experiences and questions about learning STEM content in a cultural context, encouraging diverse perspectives and participation in STEM, and/or facilitating educator professional learning experiences that are culturally embedded.

What a wonderful summary!! Thank you Dr. Saran for your insights! We are interested in your experiences and questions about STEM learning in a cultural context. My colleagues and I believe that there are diverse perspectives about science, technology, engineering and mathematics that have not been acknowledge and ignored for so long. One question that we're posing in our work is who participates in STEM disciplines, practices, careers and scholarship? We welcome your insights and engagement with our work.

Thank you Dr. Hodges! We welcome your insights and experiences. My colleagues and I are looking forward to continuing our partnership with the Gullah community. Our purpose is to empower in-service and pre-service teachers to appraise and critique STEM curriculum designed for adolescents, with a lens focused on historical and cultural contributions of this under-represented group. 

Thank you for your insights George. We are familiar with Luis Moll's work on Funds of Knowledge and I agree that our work address aspects of his theory. I think where our work intersects with Moll's, in a significant way, is prioritize spaces, such as STEM for All Video Showcase, to address the many contributions, practices, methods, skills, knowledge(s), and overall brilliance of under-presented people, in our case the Gullah community.

Greetings Folashade, and thank you for viewing our video and joining in on our discussion!  We integrated a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach with the Socio-Ecological Model to provide greater opportunities  for multilateral teaching and learning between stakeholders. The Socio-ecological Model  serves as a framework for assessing the effects of multiple layers of interactions on individuals (pre-and  in-service teachers, Gullah/Geechee students, parents, and community members) and how those intersections guide attitudes toward STEM teaching and learning from a cultural perspective. By having multiple layers of interactions between stakeholders for curriculum development and enactment, we believe that students were provided multiple opportunities and lens to see themselves (their families, community members, and cultural practices) in STEM enterprise participation.

Thank you for taking the time to view and comment on our video Dr. Quinlan. I am certainly interested in any frameworks or guiding principles you utilize in the curriculum development aspects of your work!

Thank you for taking the time to view our video and participate in the discussion, Bryanna! You have called-out a key aspect of leveraging under-represented cultures in spaces made for mainstream consumption-- dedication to respect. Our inservice and preservice teachers experienced thirteen synchronous professional learning sessions with 23 Gullah Geechee community member consultants over a six month period as they co-developed the summer academic experience for the students. We strived to facilitate opportunities for personal and professional connections to be made so that the foundation of curriculum development would be based in respect of the Gullah Geechee culture articulated through multiple community members’ perspectives. 

Dr. Brock, thank you for viewing our CS-STEM video, and for taking time to engage. This is indeed important work, wholly reflective of our commitment to helping students to see themselves in STEMs and STEM careers. Because this is a feasibility project, we continue to engage in and seek opportunities for dissemination that will make our work more widely accessible. We are also in the process of developing our first article for peer-review. 

Thank you for your positive feedback, Shanita. We have been fortunate to work with an entire team of innovative thought leaders including our PI team, pre-service and in-service teachers, consultants, Gullah Geechee community members, and of course, the inquisitive 5th and 6th grade students that participated in our CS-STEM Institute. One of the key components of our work, and one that has made it more robust, is the effective implementation of Community-Based Participatory Research practices. By nesting our research approach within the local context, including culture and natural infrastructure, and by working with members of the community from inception of the project, we are confident that we are building a better foundation for replicable, impactful, and sustainable programming in underrepresented communities.

Thank you for watching our video, Steve, and for your positive comment. We would love to hear any general feedback you may have regarding success stories related to informal learning. We welcome any experiences you would like to share, particularly as a K-12 Administrator, that would provide insights into enhanced professional development opportunities for pre-service and in-service teachers within the context of informal culturally-based STEM learning.

Thank you for viewing our CS-STEM video Jawahn. Please let us know if there is a particular element of our work you find interesting or inspiring.

These are excellent questions Cynthia. First, thank you for viewing our CS-STEM Institute video and for engaging with us on this important work. Although this work focuses on our relationship to and with Gullah Geechee culture and a specific community in South Carolina, we began our work with the goal of building a framework that integrates the Socio-ecological Model and Community-Based Participatory Research in a way that has helped us to build a sound foundation for replicable, impactful, and sustainable programming in underrepresented communities across the cultural spectrum in informal settings. Please feel free to ask any follow up questions or to share any tools that you have found useful in your own programming.

Leslie, thank you for watching our video, and for your engagement and support. Research shows that combining opportunities to reinforce students’ identity as scientists with a supportive and challenging environment of teachers, faculty and other mentors committed to student success are significant predictors of long-term participation STEM majors and careers. But, it also takes positive reinforcement at home and in the community to build confidence in STEM. Our team works tirelessly to demystify science, technology, engineering, and math, in our respective areas of expertise. That happens by normalizing STEM knowledge, skills, and applications in every aspect of our lives. I hope you will continue to follow our work, and we invite you to share any insights you found particularly helpful.

Ms. Jefferson, first, thank you for your contributions to education in South Carolina. As our 2020 SC Teacher of the Year, we are honored that you watched our video. Our feasibility study included two National Board Certified teachers with more than 17 years of experience each, both in applied sciences. Our cohort also included four pre-service teachers from various SC colleges and universities. In this feasibility study, a primary goal was capacity building. Extensive professional development was provided to all of our teachers through a series of asynchronous sessions that focused on contemporary aquaponics and historical applications of STEM in SC rice cultivation. Over 20 hours of synchronous sessions were also conducted in which teachers and PIs engaged with Gullah community members and practitioners on a host of culture-specific topics ranging from art and entertainment to environmental stewardship and conservation. Our teachers developed curriculum for the summer CS-STEM institute based this semester-long training. This feasibility study focused on 5th and 6th grade STEM curriculum development. Although we understand the need for this type of work at all grade levels, we are still in the process of analyzing and interpreting data in the feasibility stage to best understand our next steps. We welcome any suggestions and would love to connect with you!

Thank you for watching our video, John. Dr. Ciphrah and I are both from the SC Lowcountry, Georgetwown and Charleston, respectively. We both have ongoing projects supporting Gullah Geechee communities, and some of my work has been published. We would love to learn more about your work in the Lowcountry within the context of Gullah Geechee culture. 

Thank you for taking the time to view and respond to our video, Jamie. You are correct; while the goal of culturally inclusive pedagogical approaches may be similar, the use of term in regard to specific practices may differ. We are in the process of developing our first article for peer-review regarding our perspective of culturally-sustaining STEM that is rooted in Paris's 2012 framework. We define culturally-sustaining STEM as "three-dimensional learning where students acquire interdisciplinary knowledge through their use of science and engineering practices and their engagement with multiple texts and multimodality to promote and preserve cultural assets, historical knowledge, and community resources" (Boyd, Ciphrah, & Ellis, in preparation). We look forward to articulating this perspective in our pending publication.

Thank you Priscila! It was a pleasure to have you as a team member! Your contributions will always be remembered and a part of our work!

Yes, that's one of the reason I am interested in reading your publications. Our center does a lot of curriculum development. I am interested in learning about the framework about culturally-sustaining STEM, which could be a good foundation for many projects.