Aʻo: Addressing Cultural Relevance and Values in Pursuit of STEM Higher Education Careers
Presentation
Aʻo Mai. Learn about what the University of Hawaiʻi is doing to support Native Hawaiian engineers to pursue careers in Higher Education. Participants will experience activities and discussions to help them understand how cultural worldviews impact the way we learn, teach, and communicate while pursuing STEM Higher Education Careers. As a result of the session, participants will be able to identify what is culturally relevant and important to their personal pursuit of STEM Higher Education Careers. Participants will evaluate how culture is addressed in Higher Education STEM programs with which they are familiar. Participants will be able to identify culturally appropriate strategies for teaching and learning that support their pursuit of STEM Higher Education Careers. Participants will also be able to apply learning by brainstorming ways to integrate culturally relevant and appropriate methods that encourage indigenous and minority populations to pursue careers in Higher Education. This session will utilize cooperative learning strategies. Participants will be asked to discuss prior experiences in regards to culture (round-robin or pair share) followed by large group sharing. We will present a brief overview of Native Hawaiian (NH) culture and how it relates to the work being done with NH Engineering graduate students at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa (UHM) (slide presentation). We will lead the audience to identify and apply personal cultural values to their experiences of learning and teaching via activities, using small group sharing. The audience will think about how those cultural experiences and values are exhibited throughout their pursuit of STEM Higher Education Careers. Discussions will integrate participants' knowledge of cultural applications that currently exists in STEM Higher Education programs/projects. Participants will also discuss how they may be able to replicate session activities to suit other indigenous and minority populations.
Serna, A. K. K., Nguyễn, T. T. T., Kuehu, D., McLean, M. L., & Irvine, J. L. (2017). Aʻo: Addressing Cultural Relevance and Values in Pursuit of STEM Higher Education Careers. Presented at 2017 SACNAS National Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah.