I explore the concept of Hawaiian Culture-Based education as a pedagogy that promotes rigorous and relevant teaching through the cultivation of strong relationships to place and community. STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo

This section of Hoʻākea focuses on a curriculum design project aimed at bringing culture and community into the standard-driven classroom. This loko iʻa curriculum design allows for student and teacher immersion into community and loko iʻa environments. This 5 part unit design integrates outdoor learning, extending classroom walls beyond the school and into the community. STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place

A presentation on one studentʻs experience with Malama Learning Center's Wai Huihia teacher consortium from 2019-2020 and findings from other participants. STEMS² Pillars: Sense of Place

This presentation reviews the reason why my work was implemented, the progression of my research, the findings from my research and the next steps in my teaching career. STEMS² Pillars: Makawalu, Moʻolelo

Investigation of the impact of sense of place on a first year teacher and her students. STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place

During this session, I will be going over the impacts of teaching robotics through a place-based and project-based approach. This research was conducted as part of my work in the University of Hawaii's STEMS^2 Master's Program. STEMS² Pillars: Sense of Place

A beauty of life is that we each get to define success for ourselves, as long as that success speaks to our truth. I have discovered ALOHA to be my true definition of success. The goal of my project is to share how I have benefited from ALOHA as my measuring tool of self gratification, as well as, to inspire others to seek their own definition of success. As an educator, I aspire to empower students in their own truths. Like the words of the famous Athenian philosopher, Plato, "intelligence is self knowledge." STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place, Advocacy

This project focuses on the development of a middle school curriculum that utilized 21st century technology and place-based literature to strengthen students' academic development and connections to their community. Specifically, the 21st century technology used is 360 video that integrates student voice as a narrative about a place in their community. This curriculum was developed to address cognitive and physical accessibility for all students and give them an opportunity to engage with places and community partners. STEMS² Pillars: Makawalu, Sense of Place

This presentation will be covering ideas, strategies and preliminary results of the impact of the Engineering Design Process on students that are normally disinterested in class content and activities. STEMS² Pillars: Makawalu, Sense of Place

The purpose of this research was to study the effect that place-based learning has on student efficacy to answer the following research question: How does the implementation of a place-based STEMS^2 unit in an after-school garden club affect fourth and fifth graders' efficacy of STEMS^2 concepts in the context of the garden? A self-created STEMS^2 unit was implemented in a Hawaii Elementary School garden club with fourth and fifth grade students enrolled in the after-school program. The unit focused on teaching students STEMS^2 in the context of a garden. I observed the effect that this place-based type of learning had on student self-efficacy of their knowledge of the STEMS^2 concepts. STEMS² Pillars: Makawalu, Sense of Place

The purpose of my research is to study whether the implementation of my designed interdisciplinary curriculum through a Garden Club after school program will allow the enrolled second grade students the opportunity to increase their levels of self-efficacy as a learner and social self-efficacy while collaboratively working with their peers. The reason for focusing my research around students developing their learner and social self-efficacy levels is because it is important that students are confident in their own abilities, self-efficacy can be an indicator of student success, and this is year one of implementing the Garden Club after school program at a Hawai‘i public elementary school. I investigated students' levels of self-efficacy at the beginning of the program and compared them to those at the conclusion of the after school program.  

This design project focuses on the ʻike ʻāina concept of learning from the environment using the process of makawalu (multiple lenses) via culture and place-based pedagogies. ʻIke ʻāina is the metaphorical ʻauwai or pathway to student success serving as the delivering of haʻawina (lessons) in a holistic way using learning centered approaches to real-life problem solving. This Plan B Thesis models and designs the student course and professional development for integrating multiple disciplines using STEMS2 pedagogies at Honolulu Community College (HonCC). Essential to the ʻike ʻāina approach is a “sense of place” and how place provides the opportunity to explore topics by blending ideas. ʻIke ʻāina approaches will allow for critical analysis of context and explore options for improving the environment with sustainability practices passed on by the kūpuna (elders). STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place, Advocacy

In this session, I will describe the stages of my advocacy project at Kalakaua Middle School, and how my research and reflection from my experiences as a STEMS^2 student lead to the development of the "Predict the Future, Change Your Future" Unit. After further iterations, this unit has lead to the development of a year-long place-based course that integrates interdisciplinary studies into the 8th grade core math and science classes. This pilot course will be implemented at Kalakaua Middle School in the 2020-21 SY. In the spirit of a'o, audience participation is highly encouraged and audience mana'o is always welcome! STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place, Advocacy

This project focuses on the development of a middle school curriculum that utilized place-based literature to address cognitive accessibility for all students. This curriculum was developed to strengthen literacy skills and community engagement. STEMS² Pillars: Makawalu, Moʻolelo

Informed by Chilisa’s (2020) definition of Indigenous Research Methodologies, this master's thesis study invites students and community members to transform what science education can look like and empowers students to remember, reinvent or discover their reciprocal relationship with their island environment. Another goal of this study is to show that implementing a curriculum that is place, community, and project-based is feasible, engaging, and improves students’ school science experience. The outcomes of this study can be used by educators, administrators, and community groups in order to promote and advocate for place and project-based culturally responsive science education. In this session, you are invited to discuss how we can implement methodologies that empower research subjects. STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Sense of Place, Advocacy

Derman-Sparks, Higa, and Sparks (1980) have shown that children become aware of race at a very young age despite being offered little more as a template than “denial” of the existence of race, and “avoidance” of the subject. The issue therefore becomes how we best position ourselves to help children grow into anti-racist adults. I propose that teachers must first be able to have difficult conversations about race, identity, and diversity with each other prior to engaging with our students, or else the risk is run of unloading our own implicit biases into the classroom. My goal is to understand to what extent opening external spaces for participation can help me as an educator engage more fully with culturally-responsive pedagogy in my classrooms. STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place, Advocacy

In this poster presentation I will discuss the development of my mission that focuses on small changes in students that will lead to a great impact. The ultimate goal of my project is to empower students autonomy for sustainability in hopes that it leads to advocating for sustainability in their home life, school environment, and community. STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Sense of Place, Advocacy