SEISMIC Open Access Resources (SOAR) Project
Project Overview
SOAR is a research project where we, using design-based research (DBR) methodology, are creating a resource that can help SEISMIC members engage in educational research on equity and inclusion in STEM education. DBR helps researchers create resources using research-based methods to inform the design of the resource and then tests the design, constantly refining based on testing analysis, user-feedback, and needs assessments. We will be launching a website in February 2025 with all the resources we have been creating and a 2025 reading group based on this resource. In particular, the website will contain short guides, called ‘Primers’ that are quick to read and provide an introduction and guide to the research or teaching practice of interest, focusing on issues of equity and inclusion. We will use the primers to guide the reading group, as another iteration to test the design of these primers.
If you would like to work on this project, have feedback or questions or are interested in the reading group, please email Nikeetha Farfan D’Souza at nfarfand@iu.edu.
Goals of This Project
- To examine professional development habits of STEM educational professionals (researchers & educators)
- To develop resources and reading material on ideas related to equity & inclusion that leads to change in practice towards inclusive & equitable STEM education, or engage deeper in the same
Major Research Questions
What topics & forms of engagement help university STEM faculty & educational researchers develop new practice or improve existing ones related to equity & inclusion in STEM higher education (or introductory STEM in higher education)?
Project People
Project Director/ Principal Investigator
Nikeetha Farfan D’Souza
Content and Communications Coordinator
Ashley Atkinson
Previous Collaborator(s)
James Hammond
Student Researchers
Sarah Habib
Jasmine Ma
Ashley Hunh
Special Mention
Natasha Turman
Nita Tarchinski
Lade Gbolade
Acknowledgements & Project Evolution
This project has been evolving every year as I dive deeper into issues of equity & inclusion in science/STEM education and learn more. The project also evolves as world events around ideas of justice and oppression and education unfold, further influencing my learning and therefore my project goals.The DBR methodology allows for this evolution, prioritizing people’s needs for the resource (from data), developing understandings and inclusion of new theories, and not the first design that was chosen.
SEISMIC members have always been aware and talked about the need to develop knowledge around and integrate critical frameworks and theories of identity and power to engage, ethically and accurately, in educational research around equity and inclusion. The Constructs group was created to address this need. The project started when I and Dr. James Hammond, with the help of a SEISMIC Scholar, Ashley Huhn, wanted to create a resource that could help SEISMIC members develop a shared language around equity and inclusion in science education and science education research. The goal was to create an accessible resource for SEISMIC members to develop deep understandings around issues of equity and inclusion in (Introductory) STEM education and find pathways to address these issues and transform systems maintaining inequity and exclusion. We created a Zotero folder (we will share this resource on the upcoming website) with important reading material (journals, essays, blogs, books etc.) around topics of equity, inclusion, identity and power.
In continuing the Constructs Working Group mission of providing critical frameworks and histories that can inform SEISMIC educational research, and inspired by Dr. Natasha Turman’s work on creating a ‘primer’ for researchers and educators in STEM education on Critical Race Theory and other identity-based theories, we realized the need to create a guide for new researchers engaging in social and critical theories they have never encountered before. We pivoted to creating shorter guides or primers for SEISMIC members to support their engagement and learning with these important theoretical frameworks. Further conversations with SEISMIC members and reviews of SEISMIC work only strengthened this idea and we began to develop resources for this new form. The goal was to develop engaging and accessible reading material that supports practice of educational research and classroom teaching for equity & inclusion in undergraduate STEM education like using critical methods of research or how to use race as a variable in a statistical research study ethically or how to teach equitably or choose curriculum.Two SEISMIC scholars, Sarah Habib and Jasmine Ma helped me with the initial research work needed to develop the final ‘primers’ by examining and comparing the education and professional development resources for Secondary High School Science Teachers and University STEM faculty.
Finally, I am extremely indebted to one of our previous junior scholars and current program assistant and CoCo member, Ashley Atkinson, for bringing the final visions of the project alive. As mentioned above, a very important development in the project is the short guide we call primers. Ashley was heavily involved at every stage of the development of the primers – she reviewed SEISMIC publications to assess what frameworks and concepts need more support (we will be sharing this report with the community soon), she surveyed members on their ideas of equity, inclusion and professional development, created the first sets of primers surveying ideas, theories and scholars related to field of study like Critical Race Theory, Research Paradigms, Queers Theories or Disabilities Studies. She also created the amazing SOAR logo you see on the website.
This project will continue to evolve and we will release the final version and website resource for all SEISMIC members to access at any time as an important/essential resource for their work on equity & inclusion in STEM education research.
Preview of Content
The Critical Theories Primers Series
To work towards The SEISMIC Collaboration’s goal of increasing the accessibility of resources related to equity and inclusion in STEM education, our project team Working Group 4: Constructs has started developing primers to introduce concepts STEM educators may be unfamiliar with.
Primers aim to provide concise overviews of large ideas or topics. They are shorter documents meant to introduce the reader to a concept and the literature and research surrounding it. They help their audience gain an understanding of the field or concepts in question and often offer additional readings and resources. Below is a general outline of a primer:
| Section Title | Description | Length (pg) |
|---|---|---|
| Overview & Current Issues | A high-level summary of the big idea and context needed for the reader to understand the topic. Raises potential questions that push boundaries of current knowledge and understanding (i.e. good topics for future research proposals), or a developer would have to address in a product. | 2-3 |
| Key Lessons | Addresses the questions: What do we know as a result of the research? What are lessons learned for designing curriculum and instruction or for designing future research? | 1-2 |
| Reflection & Practice | Provides meaningful questions for practitioners to ask themselves | 0.5 |
| Resources | Where a reader can go to learn more – websites, associations, journals, etc. | 0.5 |
| References | Can be a reference list or pointers to seminal studies | 1-2 |
Queer Theory Primer for Educators in Higher Education
Written by: Ashley Atkinson | Edited by: Nikeetha Farfan D’Souza
Overview & Current Issues
As the diversification of higher education continues, embracing an increasing number of identities, education researchers have and will continue to turn to queer theory for inspiration and inquiries. Institutions and faculty alike have been shown to affect queer students’ trajectories in STEM, with queerphobia negatively impacting students’ sense of belonging and meaningful relationships aiding students’ academic and social integration (Garvey & Dolan, 2021). This primer provides an overview of queer theory and related concepts, explains how queer theory intersects with higher education, identifies current issues in the field, and highlights practices educators can adopt to maximize queer students’ ability to participate in higher education.
Because queer theory integrates multiple frameworks and ideas, it is important to understand the definitions of both queer theory and related ideas. In Table 1, we briefly define terms commonly used in literature concerning queer theory and higher education.
| Term & Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Identity (Garvey & Dolan, 2021) | Identity encompasses both the characteristics and unique ways that someone defines themself. Gender and sexuality are two common key characteristics of identity, and are often discussed in queer theory. |
| Queer Theory (Allen, 2015; Allen & Rasmussen, 2015; Renn, 2010) | Queer theory is a field of inquiry that resists definition, challenging the norms that influence what people say, do, feel, and become. This way of thinking allows people to think differently about the events, places, and people in their lives. Queer theory encourages the disassembly and disruption of dominant identities and binaries, including straight/gay, male/female, and human/non-human. |
Sample Questions and Exercises
Comprehension Questions
- What ideas and concepts does queer theory support? How does queer theory aim to disrupt binaries and challenge the systems around it?
- How has queer theory been incorporated into higher education?
- What barriers still exist for those that exist outside of heteronormative assumptions?
- What does future research need to address?
- How can instructors and faculty create a welcoming environment for queer identities?
Exercises
- What is your own gender identity? How do you see this related to your decisions and engagement in science teaching and education research?
- What assumptions does your curriculum make about gender and sexuality, and the students who study it?