NSF Awards: 1906913
Design Squad Latinx, a broad implementation project researching a strengths-based approach to engineering education, works with Latinx communities to encourage middle school-aged Latinx youth to draw on their funds of knowledge to help them solve engineering challenges. Building upon the success of previous DESIGN SQUAD iterations, such as DESIGN SQUAD GLOBAL, Design Squad Latinx leverages a tested model of engaging youth and educators around the world to draw inspiration for engineering from their own lives and communities.
Youth’s assets and funds of knowledge – knowledge, skills, talents and abilities developed from lived experiences – are central to both the conceptualization of the program as well as the content of the program. Materials incorporate examples of Latinx individuals using their funds of knowledge and guide educators in modeling and eliciting funds of knowledge.
To inform content development and assess the promise of the resources in achieving intended impact goals, the research strategy is comprised of four main components: testing of existing DESIGN SQUAD materials to see the extent to which they elicit youths’ funds of knowledge; iterative Prototype Testing in English and Spanish to explore factors that support or impede effective implementation of the engineering challenges among programs serving Latinx youth; a Pilot Study involving programs in Puerto Rico and mainland United States to test several program modules in English and Spanish, a suite of professional development resources; and an Implementation Study to evaluate how these bilingual resources are best implemented in out-of-school time programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Amy Wilson-Lopez
Associate Professor
Thank you for an informative video that described the process of iteration for Design Squad Latinx. I especially appreciated the use of asset mapping to elicit funds of knowledge, and then educators in out-of-school time programs can connect these funds of knowledge with different engineering design challenges. You had mentioned that you are looking at whether participation in the program leads to "positive outcomes for Latinx youth." How long do youth typically participate in the program, and what are some positive outcomes that you are exploring? You also said that you learned you need to "make more connections between funds of knowledge and engineering." What are some ways you are accomplishing that goal? Thank you again for your project and I look forward to reading the results of the implementation study when they come out!
Nicki Sirianni
Marketing Manager
Hi Amy, thank you so much for taking the time to watch our video! Youth will participate in our program for 10-sessions which is typically delivered as one 60-minute session per week. Some of the outcomes for youth we will be exploring include engineering identity, science anxiety, mulitgroup ethnic identity, self-efficacy, future mindedness, positive identity and competency in community. To make better connections between funds of knowledge and engineering, we added short animated videos to the program where engineer hosts model their own funds of knowledge. We also added more prompting questions in the materials for the program facilitator to better elicit connections between funds of knowledge and engineering. We are definitely still exploring how to strengthen the connection between funds of knowledge and engineering and are hoping our pilot study results can tell us more. We also welcome any ideas or additional feedback!
Nidaa Makki
Professor
Thank you for sharing your project! I also appreciated the approach of drawing on students’ funds of knowledge. I especially liked how your project provided examples from practicing engineers modeling their own funds of knowledge for the students. Can you elaborate more on the assessment tools you are using to measure engineering identify, future mindedness, and positive identity?
Nicki Sirianni
Marketing Manager
Hi Nidaa, happy to share! We're using a modified version of the Engineering Identity Development Scale (Capobianoci et al., 2012) to measure engineering identity. To measure future-mindedness, we're using a three item scale with items that assess students expectations about their future life (e.g., "I will be healthy"). Finally, for positive identity we're using the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney et al., 2007) which assesses identification and exploration of participant's ethnic identity. The scales are currently being piloted with the target population and we expect to refine our measures further once we receive our results.
Rena Dorph
Nidaa Makki
Professor
Thank you for sharing the specific measures!
Scott Pattison
Research Scientist
Thanks for the great video and for sharing your project. Like Amy, I appreciated your asset-based approach and your focus on connecting with the funds of knowledge of Latinx communities. I'm curious, has this process changed how you think about or teach engineering and design? I can imagine that learning more about community funds of knowledge may have challenged some dominant conceptions about who does engineering, where it happens, and what it looks like. Thanks again for sharing!
Kim Gonzalez
Design Squad Latinx Content Manager
Hi Scott,
Thanks for joining in and raising this important question! DSL's iterative approach to development has not only left room for, but demanded that we remain open-minded when it comes to conceptions about the who, what, where, and when of engineering.
One big aspect of this has been modeling of many kinds of engineering and engineers, which opens space for Latinx youth and communities to share their own experiences of engineering. Another fun and effective tool has been taking stock of what is in our own communities; for example, our video host for the Pulleys Module takes a walk in her own neighborhood and completes a "scavenger hunt" of all the pulleys she sees daily. This is an avenue for sparking conversation about the pulleys youth see in their own communities.
With this in mind, we encourage educators to be open about their own funds of knowledge and experiences with engineering. We find that the "guide on the side" is a much more effective partner in asset-based engineering than the "sage on the stage"!
Sincerely,
The Design Squad Latinx Team
Scott Pattison
Research Scientist
Thanks, Kim. All very interesting. Have you published about this role shift for educators? I like the way you are talking about this "guide on the side" role, and I think it could be valuable for others in the STEM education field. Thanks again!
Kim Gonzalez
Design Squad Latinx Content Manager
Hi Scott,
We hope to publish our results after the implementation study in the Fall. We agree that this role shift could be helpful in many contexts, and hope that the value of kids following their own funds of knowledge can be applied more broadly to the STEM education field.
Thank you!
Kim Gonzalez
Design Squad Latinx Content Manager
Hello,
Thank you for visiting our Design Squad Latinx video. This project explores a strengths-based approach to engineering education, while working with Latinx communities to encourage middle school-aged Latinx youth to draw on their funds of knowledge to help them solve engineering challenges. Following an implementation study this fall, Design Squad Latinx toolkit will be available on PBS LearningMedia.
After watching our video, we look forward to hearing your thoughts on how you might envision using Design Squad Latinx in your after school program. In addition, we hope you will share successful strategies for creating and implementing billngual programming, as well as connecting STEM activities with the funds of knowledge of the youth you work with. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Thank you!
The Design Squad Latinx Team
Julia Varnedoe
Thank you for sharing the Design Squad Latinex project. I am a big fan of the Design Squad series and love that you have extended it to help address the STEM gap for Latinex youth & communities. I am interested in learning more about the Flexible Pathways and how they are utilized.
Kim Gonzalez
Design Squad Latinx Content Manager
Hi Julia,
Thanks for your support and your question! DSL Pathways are suggested sequences for educators to take in completing modules within their programs. Each module can stand alone, be paired, or completed as part of a longer series.
The Pathways honor educator's connection to the kids in their program, while recognizing that they bring their own expertise and funds of knowledge to engineering. We hope the modularity and potential pathways will be supports for a "choose your own adventure" approach to engineering.
Thank you, from the Design Squad Latinx Team!
Amy Robertson
I appreciate this project so much and love the focus on funds of knowledge. I'd love to hear an example of how something you learned about particular funds of knowledge within the project shaped revisions to your program or curriculum.
Nicki Sirianni
Marketing Manager
Hi Amy, thank you for watching our video! Before we conceptualized our program, we did a series of asset mapping activities in three different Latinx communities. These activities helped us collect information on what kids identify as the abilities (or funds of knowledge) of themselves, their families and their communities. We took the most common themes and used them as a foundation for our engineering program. For example, the theme of helping family and community members came up often. Instead of simply giving kids an engineering challenge as we have done in past programs, we changed how we frame the engineering problem by presenting them as client stories. In Design Squad Latinx, kids receive three client stories which they read and decide who they want to help by creating an engineering solution. We hope by making more of these connections in our materials we can ensure kids have a more meaningful experiences with engineering!
Anasilvia Salazar
Excelente proyecto! me interesa mucho conocer los resultados que han obtenido en las primeras iteraciones y qué proceso siguieron para reclutar e involucrar a los maestros.
Kim Gonzalez
Design Squad Latinx Content Manager
¡Hola, Anasilvia!
¡Gracias por su apoyo! Actualmente estamos finalizando nuestra primera etapa de pruebas piloto, pero los comentarios iniciales han demostrado un gran entusiasmo por la ingeniería entre los niños y los educadores. Trabajamos con organizaciones asociadas en tres sitios (Puerto Rico, Rhode Island y San José) para reclutar educadores de sus programas.
Saludos del Equipo Design Squad Latinx
Anasilvia Salazar
Jackelyn Lopez Roshwalb
Thank you for sharing your work! Will Design Squad Latinx happen in the classroom or outside of class time? Is this something that might involve a diverse group of students with varied ethnic/racial backgrounds, or will it be targeted only to those who identify as Latinx? Which aspects of the program do you think might appeal broadly to many groups? You acknowledge the challenge to avoid stereotypes - I'd love to see examples of your authentic connections to Latinx youth!
Nicki Sirianni
Marketing Manager
Hi Jackelyn, thank you for your thoughtful questions! Design Squad Latinx is designed for out-of-school settings, but we have some educators using the materials as an enrichment program in school. Our piloting and research sites do have a high population of Latinx youth, but many of the programs who are using Design Squad Latinx have a diverse group of youth with varied ethnic/racial backgrounds. Though the materials are designed with Latinx youth in mind, that activities are not exclusive, and we hope will have broader appeal. The activities are structured so they activate youth's funds of knowledge and empower them to use that knowledge to solve problems that are meaningful to them- something we think lots of kids will find engaging.
One of the ways we make authentic connections is to share the funds of knowledge of Latinx engineers in our profiles. We also make as many connections as possible to the daily lives of youth. Many of the kids in our prototype testing expressed a connection to their parents' or caregivers' work: for our pulleys video, we showcased the work that the host's dad does as a window cleaner in LA. We hope to demystify engineering concepts and show kids that they probably have already seen or used them in their daily lives.
Thanks! The Design Squad Latinx Team
Rena Dorph
I am really excited to hear about the work you are doing. Your asset-based approach is very compelling and I'd love to learn more about it. I'd love to connect to learn more about your program design as well. I'm also going to check out the assessment tools you are using. In the meantime,I also wanted to let you know that you might find some of the measures from the Activation Lab useful--especially the STEM learning activation measures that you can find on this website. Happy to discuss more.
Nicki Sirianni
Marketing Manager
Hi Rena! Thank you so much for sending these measures, so helpful!
Before we even started conceptualizing our program, we did a series of asset mapping activities with our partner communities. We had kids write or draw their assets of the head (things they know about), hand (things they can do), and heart (thing they care about). We then had kids do the activity at home collecting their caregiver's assets, and write a story about their community. We took all of this information and coded it for common themes and topics. These themes were then used as the foundation for our activities and materials.
We are still iterating on our program as we await results from our pilot study. Once we have the results, we will be spending the summer refining and developing the rest of program. Our team would love to connect and talk more!
Jamie Bell
Thank you for sharing your progress on this interesting project. Do I understand correctly that you are conducting an RCT as part of this work? If so, can you say a little bit more about what distinguishes the participant and control conditions?