Posted on August 30, 2024 by Katelyn Juarez
Dr. Alex Mejia and Dr. Martha Sidury Christiansen
The U.S. National Science Foundation awarded a $419,683 grant to Dr. Alex Mejia and Dr. Martha Sidury Christiansen for their project titled, “Collaborative Research: Racial equity: Bridging conocimiento indigena into U.S. science dual language immersion: Digital curriculum development as a remedy for epistemicide.”
Mejia and Christiansen, associate professors in the UTSA Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, are collaborating with Georgia State University on this $1.6 million initiative to support bilingual STEM education.
The funding will be used to integrate bilingual and Latinx culture into science education. The project will enhance the understanding of how merging Indigenous knowledge with Western science in dual language programs can improve science identity and education for Latinx youth in middle schools, particularly those with Indigenous heritage.
The project team will support 11 middle school teachers and 2,500 students across the southern states, providing STEM resources and curriculum that incorporate multiple epistemologies of indigenous communities at no cost.
Working to advancing efforts and support in STEM education, teacher preparation, and bilingual education, the impact of the project will extend to schools in San Antonio, Atlanta, and Veracruz, Mexico. The digital media and curricular materials developed for this project will be made available to dual language classrooms across the U.S., enhancing science education accessibility for marginalized students and Latinx youth, and helping them engage with and see themselves in the STEM field.
Learn more about the project here.
— Katelyn Juarez
