Developing Identity in a Kitchen Science Community of Practice

1. Developing Identity in a Kitchen Science Community of Practice Tamara L. Clegg PhD Qualifying Exam Learning Sciences & Technology College of Computing November 2, 2005

2. Agenda • The Fire in my Belly • Background Information • First Steps: Little League Cooking • Kitchen Science Investigators • Research Questions • Next Steps

3. The Fire in My Belly… • Academic excellence in the African American Community • Particularly in math and science • Issue (in my own experience): • Lack of African American students in the more advanced science and mathematics classes

4. What the research shows • Lack of minorities and women going into science, math, and engineering (Dozier et al 1997) • Nasir and Saxe (2003) suggest this is because of the tension between… • Values of community (e.g. neighborhood, family) and • Identity • Specifically in Urban Learning Centers and underserved communities (Fordham 1988)

5. My Work to Date • Creating an informal learning environment for learners to explore Chemistry through cooking • To foster the development of learners’ identities as scientific thinkers • Cooking as a lever • Motivation • Science involved (Corriher 1997; Brown 2002) • Accomplishment and contribution (WebMD) • Social bonds (Nardi) • Studies • First implementation: Little League Cooking • Kitchen Science Investigators Science Club

6. Background: Science Learning • Learning and motivation can go hand-in-hand with properly designed projects (Blumenfeld et al. 1991) • Learners need to work on problems that are… • Open-ended and ill-structured (Koschmann 1996) (Disciplinary Authenticity - Shaffer 1999) • Real-world (Kolodner 2003; Koschman 1996) • Culture of practices leading to effective learning can be established by… • Sequencing conversations and activities • Ritualizing scientific practices • (Koldner et al. 2003)

7. Background: Science Learning Outside the Classroom • Sew seeds of interest and motivation (Wellington 1990) • Islands of expertise (Crowley & Jacobs 2002) • Epistemic frames (Shaffer 2004) • Conceptual understandings develop gradually over time • With help of parents • (Crowley 2001)

8. Background: Identity • Identity is formed with respect to (and as a result of) the community (Gee 2001) • Learners are affected by what their community values • Learning Outcomes (Nasir, 2000) • Identities (Nasir & Saxe 2003)

9. Background: Communities of Practice • There are many types of Communities of Practice that form where learners develop identities through participation (Lave & Wenger 1991, Barab & Duffy 2000) • Needed: • A common cultural and historical heritage • A reproduction cycle • An interdependent system

10. Leveraging subjects learners are more likely to engage in to get them to connect them to other subjects Digiquilt AquaMOOSE Dispositions Learners can develop dispositions towards learning that transfer to other environments (Bereiter 1995) Background: Does this work in other domains?

11. Our Objectives • To create and sustain a community that values scientific reasoning • To use cooking as a leverage into science • To design and implement this learning environment and supporting software

12. After-school program at a private school Four 1.5 hour sessions Seven 5-8th grade learners Learners explored the chemical properties of eggs Cooking activities Science experiment Science cooking visualizations Learners… Cooking reflection software was useful Could explain the roles eggs played in their recipes Enjoyed working with their self-selected groups Science visualizations did not fit well in the environment Preliminary Study: Little League Cooking

13. Little League Cooking To Kitchen Science Investigators • Transitioning LLC to KSI • The name change reflects focus shift from competition activities to investigation • Learners engage in self-motivated explorations/experiments to find answers to their own questions • The overall sequencing of activities has shifted from structured activities into a more informal semi-structured sequence of exploration.

14. Design of Kitchen Science Investigators • Problem-Based Learning • Structured Activities • Supporting Chemistry Experiments Project-Based Learning - Less Structured Activities - Student Driven Experiments Barron et al 1998

15. KSI Study Sequence Group Discussion: Predictions & Planning Structured Experiment Ex: Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder Observations Pictures Unstructured Experiment: Retry Day Pizza With Baking Soda/Powder Group Discussion: Reflection & Expl.

16. Private school 10-week Science Club after-school program 1.5 hour sessions Once per week 16 participants 5th grade learners School cafeteria/lobby and kitchen Data Collection Learner interviews Group Individual Observation Field notes Video data Learners’ artifacts Physical Software Photos (food) KSI Study

17. Preliminary Results: Themes • Evidence of learning • Problem-based -> Project-based sequence • Alternating • Science Experiments • Informal Artifacts • Needed help with group planning • Lack of quantitative comparisons • Technology use • Messy Environment • Interface • Prompts • Water cooler effect • Pragmatics

18. Back to the Belly… • Helping students in underserved communities to develop and maintain identities as scientific reasoners and thinkers (The fire in my belly) • That they can take with them throughout life • KSI’s potential • What are the additional needs of this community? • What do we need to do to adapt to this community?

19. Research Questions: Affordances of the Community • What are the affordances of the surrounding community for supporting aspects of this community of learners vital to it’s success? • Development of scientific practices • Sustaining motivation and engagement • Providing access to Legitimate Peripheral Participation • Already known: • Sequencing • Problem-based Activities to Project-based Activities • Cooking • Attention grabbing experiments • Informal artifacts • Community involvement

20. Research Questions: Technology • What role can the technology play in this environment • In conveying the shared history? • In promoting learning and exploration? • In supporting the community’s growth and knowledge buildup? • Already known: • Documenting shared experience - pictures and storytelling • Technology Setup • Scientific planning and analysis • KWL chart (Know, Want to learn, and Learned) • Measurements and comparisons • Group display

21. Next Steps: • Develop a working implementation of KSI (curriculum and software) • Extending KSI into an underserved community or Urban Learning Center after-school environment to • Extend on these questions, applying them to these environments • To find out what the different needs are in these communities

22. Timeline • Spring 2006: KSI formative study (private school) • Fall 2006: Data analysis/software and curriculum revisions • Spring & Fall 2007: Proposal and study in ULC or underserved community • Spring 2008: Writing and defense of dissertation

23. Acknowledgements • My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ • Janet Kolodner • Christina Gardner • Oriana Williams • Alex Rudnick • Allison E. Tew

24. LLC Software: Cooking Journal and Reflection

25. Chemistry Learning Modules

26. Chemistry Learning Activities & Reflection

27. Background: Science Learning • In the classroom • Problem-based Learning (e.g., Barron et al. 1998) • Project-based Learning (e.g. Blumenfeld et al. 1991) • Inquiry Science Learning (e.g. Edelson & Pea 1999) • Learning By Design (Kolodner et al. 2003) • Out of the classroom • Museum Learning (e.g. Crowley & Galco 2001, Wellington 1990)

28. First Steps: Little League Cooking • Science and Cooking Competitions • Create and support a community of learners with • Activities • Software • Promoting learning for transfer • Cooking techniques • Conceptual understanding of science • Scientific reasoning • Enhance learner’s conceptualization of Chemistry and cooking • Visualizations and simulations

29. Student Artifacts Before Software Introduction

30. KSI Software • Swiki-based • Used to… • provide documentation of their shared experiences • Provide experiment planning and observation prompts

31. KSI Software

32. Na’ilah Suad Nasir • Nasir, N. i. (2000). "Points Ain't Everything": Emergent Goals and Average and Percent Understandings in the Play of Basketball among African American Students. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 31(3), 283-305. • Nasir, N. i., & Saxe, G. B. (2003). Ethnic and Academic Identities: A Cultural Practice Perspective on Emerging Tensions and Their Management in the Lives of Minority Students. Educational Researcher.