Families Involved in Education: Sociocultural Teaching and STEM (FIESTAS) is a collaboration between OSU’s College of Education, 4H Youth Development, and the Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) program.
The primary focus of the 4-H STEM program is to enhance the knowledge of STEM related topics of Latino and underrepresented youth in the 3rd to 5th grades. The primary reason for this age range is to reach youth early in their schooling, especially those underrepresented in STEM fields. Because of the changing demographics of the K-12 population, which do no align with the demographic of the preservice teacher demographics we think that engagement with culturally and linguistically diverse youth is needed. The SMILE program is an outreach program to serve underrepresented students in STEM fields predominantly from rural areas. SMILE offers after-school programming, professional development for teachers, and family math and science nights in local communities.
1.) Expose and recruit Latino Youth in STEM-related programs.
2.) Engage preservice teachers (PST) in culturally and linguistically diverse settings.
(1) How do PSTs position themselves in relation to content, children, and families?
(2) How do teacher preparation courses disrupt the commonplace to transform views of teaching and learning?
(3) And, how do PSTs engage in praxis in which they apply and enact education concepts in community settings?
Data Collection & Analysis:
Data collection and analysis focuses on preservice teachers’ reflections: before and after their participation in Family Math and Science Nights and throughout the term in which they engage with youth in the afterschool 4H program at least 6 times per term.
* Kathryn Ciechanowski (co-PI), ESOL/Bilingual Programs, College of Education
* SueAnn Bottoms (co-PI), Elementary Science Education, College of Education
* Ana Lucia Fonseca, Program Lead, 4H STEM afterschool program
* Jenny de la Hoz, PhD student in Science Education, College of Education
* SMILE, which facilitates Family Math and Science Nights (FMSN) in each community, but is not directly involved with summer research work