TED 228 - STEM Education for a More Just World

Lower Division

Concurrently
TED 228EL

Prerequisites
JCL 100, recommended

This course engages a sociohistorical analysis of inequities in U.S. K-12 STEM education alongside the struggle to make STEM education more equitable and just. We begin by exploring our own K-12 STEM schooling experiences in relation to our intersecting social identities, acknowledging that how we interrogate our lived experiences shapes our perspectives on schooling. We will center issues of power, access, and agency in STEM education, examining the historical and present day status quo of STEM education. We will read and analyze a variety of critical and culturally relevant lessons, units, and projects in STEM education that explicitly strive to challenge inequities and empower students as change agents. Together, we will envision STEM classrooms as humanizing, inclusive spaces by visiting and supporting local classrooms and meeting STEM teachers. Furthermore, we will examine strategies for family and community engagement in STEM learning. Finally, we will investigate current efforts around the country to make education more equitable and just, particularly the work of teacher-activists shaping STEM education. At the end of the course, as blossoming STEM education scholars and future professionals (whether that be in a STEM industry, medicine, teaching, etc.), students of the class will be able to formulate a theory of change for how K-12 STEM education can be more equitable and just and share this with local school partners.

Repeatable
No

Course credits: 3