How can we bring world-class climate research conducted in the Pacific into our classrooms and homes? At the 2021 STEMS² Symposium, we invited the audience to share their insights on teaching climate change and brainstormed ideas on how to inspire students to cultivate their curiosity for science. We sought to gather perspectives and experiences from participants so we could improve accessibility and knowledge of climate science across the Pacific. Since then, the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI CASC) education team has dedicated their efforts to creating the PI CASC Education Hub, a platform that offers an abundance of resources on climate. The PI CASC Education Hub provides place-based lesson plans, interactive data and tools, and supplementary resources to support students, teachers, and researchers in deepening and expanding their climate science expertise. Join us in our poster session where we will share our journey of creating the Hub and provide a comprehensive overview of the resources and benefits that PI CASC offers to students, educators, and researchers. We aim to empower educators to tackle the difficult topic of climate change in and out of their classroom and are committed to supporting their efforts through this growing resource and community.

STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo

There are many students with disabilities (SWDs) whose academic success is impeded due to their challenges with learner self-perception and the ways we assess academic achievement. Poor learner self-perception can lead to symptoms of learned helplessness, which further impacts academic achievement for SWDs. Through improving learner self-perception and decreasing learned helplessness, it is hoped that students will feel confident about their abilities, thus allowing them greater access to the general-ed curriculum and beyond. To address the poor learner self-perception and academic achievement observed among students, inquiry-based integrated Concrete-Representational-Abstract (CRA) that is grounded in the STEMS2 construct was used to improve learner-self perception and academic achievement among students with disabilities in a 9th grade math workshop class.

STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place, Advocacy

Based on a STEMS^2 framework, the project ʻIke Wai o ka ʻĀina connected local educators in East Hawaiʻi Island with ʻāina-based community partners to explore what it means to be grounded in educational practices that value a sense of place, purpose, and participation. The site visit experiences at a loko iʻa, a Hawaiian-based learning farm, and a restored native wet forest provided educators an opportunity to listen to the stories of the land stewards of each site, engage in a service project, and experiment with methods for implementing concepts of ʻāina education in their classroom spaces. The study focused on how the ʻIke Wai o ka ʻĀina experience can potentially impact personal and professional development in ʻāina-based education and cultivating connections with community partners.

STEMS² Pillars: Makawalu, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place, Advocacy

This presentation will share details of my self-study, investigating my understanding of sense of place and how this awareness impacts my teaching identity, pedagogical strategies, and practices. To understand any impact, I am examining and comparing artifacts (i.e., reflections, essays, lesson plans, etc.) from different periods of my college student and teaching careers. Preliminary and emerging themes will be discussed, as data analysis and research are ongoing, and results are still forming.

STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place

This study begins from my sense of self and place in California community colleges as a Latina graduate student and professional and reveals findings and implications that are discovered through the support of critical friendship. Several critical examinations, research and experiences on issues of language, culture, power dynamics and social capital play an influential role in my promotion of Latino advocacy in colleges with the help of a critical friend. Data analysis on self reflections and critical friendship conversations evolved into how to operate with critical consciousness towards Latino advocacy in post secondary education. STEMS² Pillars: Sense of Place, Advocacy