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Culturally responsive computing (CRC) frames the localized knowledges and practices of Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities as assets for working toward racial justice in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). A key part of CRC is the role that local communities play in designing and/or implementing curricula and technologies. Yet, there is a dearth of research on collaborating with local knowledge experts and what they think about CRC. In response, this paper details a two-year long research project on the design and implementation of one CRC program called pH Empowered. pH Empowered uses computing to bridge Black hairstyling, chemistry, and entrepreneurship. Through a mixed-methods study of one pH Empowered professional development workshop, we show how cosmetologists, urban farmers, and librarians had diverse perspectives about how to be culturally responsive with STEM and the racial justice goal of broadening participation in STEM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Makingis a rapidly emerging form of educational practice that involves the design, construction, testing, and revision of a wide variety of objects, using high and low technologies, and integrating a range of disciplines including art, science, engineering, and mathematics. It has garnered widespread interest and support in both policy and education circles because of the ways it has been shown to link science learning to creativity and investigation. Making has taken root in out-of-school settings, such as museums, science festivals, and afterschool and library programmes; and there is now growing interest from primary and secondary educators in how it might be incorporated into the classroom. Making expands on traditions associated with Technology Education and Design-Based Learning, but differs in ways that can potentially broaden participation in science and STEM learning to include learners from communities historically underrepresented in STEM fields. STEM-Rich Making is centrally organised around design and engineering practices, typically integrating digital tools and computational practices, and positions scientific and mathematical concepts and phenomena as the materials for design. This paper takes a critical view of the claims about Making as a productive form of science teaching and learning, and reviews the current research literature’s substantiation of the ways in which Making supports students’ agency, promotes active participation in science and engineering practices, and leverages learners’ cultural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To date, there has been a wealth of research on participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, but most research focuses on the implementation of programs and whether these programs work. Such research can be expanded and enhanced by considering geographic perspectives on participation in the STEM fields and by examining the factors that prevent participation in these fields. In this paper, we seek to examine geographic perspectives to broadening participation in the STEM fields in two ways. We first conduct a literature review on the geographical understanding of barriers and facilitators of higher education that encompasses underrepresented populations in STEM fields. Second, we present a case study that catalyzes geography and seeks to broaden participation in the STEM fields. Both the literature review and case study show the significance and the role played by place-based factors and approaches, spatial thinking and inquiry-based learning, and environmental education and civic engagement work in helping advance the science of broadening participation in STEM fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]