Examining student science identity in an early-college, place-based, Hawaiʻi marine science research program

Abstract

There is growing interest to develop programs and pedagogies focused on increasing representation of underrepresented minority (URM) students within the scientific community. URM students face many pedagogical, societal, and institutional barriers that lead to disproportionately lower levels of entering and higher levels of attrition from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) undergraduate programs. Student experiences within a STEM learning environment play a large role in influencing participation and persistence in science, and place-based education (PBE) is one pedagogical approach that aims to increase student engagement with science. By allowing URM students to engage with scientific concepts through their own knowledge systems, PBE can develop these students’ science identity and nurture a sense of belonging within the science community. This dissertation explored whether place-based elements of an early-credit, Hawaiʻi undergraduate research experience, the Research Experiences in Marine Science (REMS) Program, influenced the science identities of a program instructor and the student participants. REMS is a place-based research curriculum hosted at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) that targets URM students transitioning from high school to undergraduate STEM programs. During REMS, students are taught marine science methodologies and conduct novel, independent research that draws upon the history, culture, and unique ecosystems of Hawaiʻi marine communities. The author (a scientist who helped develop and deliver the REMS curriculum) presents a reflection on her own science identity and research methodologies as they evolved through participation in research communities that were rooted in Western scientific, critical place-based, and Hawaiʻi educational frameworks. To examine the development of science identity in REMS student participants, data on attitudes towards and conceptualizations of science and scientists were collected before and after participation in REMS through written responses from pre- and post-program open-ended survey items, images produced through pre- and post-program Draw-a-Scientist Tests, and post-program focus group interviews. Coding the instrument items revealed that the combination of place-based elements and an authentic research experience shifted students’ conceptualization of scientists to a “humanized” (e.g., relatable and less stereotypical) construct. In observing professional researchers’ reactions to experimental success and failure, and hearing first-hand accounts from instructor mentors overcoming challenges, students felt validated in their own experiences. The emergence of these themes coincided with students recognizing themselves as scientists, gaining confidence in their content understanding and research skills, increasing interest in science as a subject and as a career pathway, and recognizing how science affects their communities. Thus, this dissertation demonstrates how a research program that emphasizes the cultural relevance of science and an inclusive conceptualization of a “person of science” may contribute to URM students in Hawaiʻi recognizing themselves as scientists and ultimately persisting in science careers.