New Grant Supports STEM Equity Research Network
Eli Tucker-Raymond and Maria Olivares
New Grant Supports STEM Equity Research Network
BU Wheelock’s Maria C. Olivares, research assistant professor in language & literacy and Eli Tucker-Raymond, research associate professor, have received a grant from the National Science Foundation to assist in the development of a network to coordinate research on equity practices and cultures in STEM-maker education.
The project, “Coordinating Research for Critical Making Cultures and Practices,” begins in September 2020 and runs through the end of 2024. Olivares and Tucker-Raymond will work with Jill Castek (University of Arizona), Edna Tan (University of North Carolina Greensboro), and Cynthia Graville (Saint Louis University).
“It will bring together a nationwide network of scholars, practitioners, and formal and informal education partners in urban and rural sites serving people from groups underrepresented in STEM,” says Olivares.
The project will explore and build on the skills and practices of communities that have robust histories of making not often recognized in more formal STEM learning settings. It will also provide opportunities for high-quality lifelong learning across multiple spaces and actively work to position learners as knowledgeable and creative individuals already situated in intellectually and culturally rich communities.
“This project is about magnetizing and mobilizing critical perspectives on equity in STEM by emphasizing the power of collaboration,” explains Olivares.
At BU Wheelock, Olivares uses design-based research to work with youth, teachers, and researchers to design formal and informal learning environments that support expansive understandings of STEM. Tucker-Raymond has conducted research with community organizations and schools in Chicago, IL and in the Greater Boston Area. He has served as principal investigator and co-principal investigator on several National Science Foundation-funded grants.