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Designing Science Curricula That Disrupt Disciplinary Boundaries Towards Sociopolitical Change: A Middle School Life Science Unit

  • Ravit Golan Duncan
  • , Rishi Krishnamoorthy
  • , Edna Tan
  • , Tasha Austin
  • , Frieda Reichsman
  • , Sugat Dabholkar
  • , Ti'Era Worsley
  • , Anhar Islam
  • , Burrell Smithen
  • , Jaya Joshi
  • , Megumi Asada
  • Rutgers University
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  • Concord Consortium

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Supporting minoritized students' participation in a science requires designing expansive notions of what counts as doing and learning science. We present the design of a middle-school biology unit about stress and body system interactions that challenges the boundaries of disciplined science and promoting social change making through consequential learning. Four core axiological commitments shaped the design of the unit: a) expanding disciplinary practice by entangling mind, body, and environment; b) supporting students' rightful participation and expertise; c) recognizing the environment as politicized across scales; and d) supporting social change through allied political struggle. We describe how we embodied these commitments in the unit design and how they played out in the context of a 7th grade urban science classroom. This work provides another example of consequential learning environments and contributes to the theory and practice underlying their design.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationISLS Annual Meeting 2023
Subtitle of host publicationBuilding Knowledge and Sustaining our Community - 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences, ICLS 2023, Proceedings
EditorsPaulo Blikstein, Jan Van Aalst, Rita Kizito, Karen Brennan
PublisherInternational Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)
Pages1138-1141
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)9781737330677
StatePublished - 2023
Event17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences, ICLS 2023 - Montreal, Canada
Duration: Jun 10 2023Jun 15 2023

Publication series

NameProceedings of International Conference of the Learning Sciences, ICLS
ISSN (Print)1814-9316

Conference

Conference17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences, ICLS 2023
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityMontreal
Period06/10/2306/15/23

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