| NSF Org: |
DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | October 24, 2022 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | October 24, 2022 |
| Award Number: | 2242927 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Joel Abraham
jkabraha@nsf.gov (703)292-4694 DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2022 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2025 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $500,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $500,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
809 S MARSHFIELD AVE M/C 551 CHICAGO IL US 60612-4305 (312)996-2862 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
809 S. Marshfield Avenue MB 502 Chicago IL US 60612-4305 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
UBE - Undergraduate Biology Ed, IUSE |
| Primary Program Source: |
04002223DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074, 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
People who identify as Black are disproportionately underrepresented in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded in the biological sciences. This has implications for scientific innovations as it specifically relates to Black people within the United States. This project thus strives to address challenges with retaining and matriculating Black students in the biological sciences by focusing on transforming the culture and context of undergraduate biology teaching and learning. The work builds significantly on the existing Re-Envisioning Culture Network through expanding membership, development of the teaching and mentoring resources, fostering thinktanks to promote continued investigations into innovative approaches, and supporting newly formed collaborations that advance the network goals.
Existing attempts to address the challenge with retaining and matriculating Black students in undergraduate STEM education often propose solutions that focus on either student or faculty development. While beneficial with helping Black students obtain specific resources and opportunities, endeavors focused on student development often fail to address structural and systemic forms of oppression that both explicitly and implicitly impact Black students? holistic well-being and, thus their success. Though faculty development endeavors focus on interpersonal and professional development that support inclusive or justice-oriented teaching and mentoring, these endeavors often fail to provide tangible resources and sustained infrastructure to ensure faculty members? successful implementation of said strategies within their classroom spaces. In recognizing these challenges and their implications for Black science learners and the Black community writ large, this project seeks to implement a new approach that strives to transform the culture and context of undergraduate biology education by situating biology teaching and learning within critical, strengths-based frameworks of Blackness. Leveraging critical, strengths-based frameworks of Blackness to create undergraduate biology curricula, lessons, assessments, and teaching resources presents the opportunity to implement and examine the impact that science content, classroom ethos, and pedagogical praxes have on Black students? success. This project will further investigate innovative ways to address challenges with retaining and matriculating Black students by hosting annual thinktanks and community strategizing endeavors. Lastly, this project will facilitate the formation of new networks and collaborative endeavors that advance research and teaching focused on centering Blackness onto-epistemologies within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics teaching and learning. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/).
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
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