STEM faculty’s perspectives on adopting culturally responsive pedagogy

ABSTRACT

Culturally responsive pedagogy has received increasing research attention and has been applied in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in higher education to support an increasingly diverse student body in recent years. This study aimed to uncover the pedagogical machinations that govern how STEM faculty members teach, interact and engage with their culturally and ethnically diverse students in the United States of America. Eight STEM faculty members participated in one of three focus group sessions in this study. Data from the focus groups were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings show that instructors were aware of the importance of addressing issues of diversity in instruction and adapted their instruction to accommodate students’ diverse backgrounds and experiences. Additionally, the study identified challenges faced by STEM faculty members in adopting culturally responsive pedagogy. These, along with the study’s limitations, inform future research directions and application of culturally responsive pedagogy.

KEYWORDS:

• Culturally responsive pedagogy
• STEM education
• diverse learning needs
• inclusive teaching
• higher education

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the STEM faculty members who participated in this study for their time and willingness to share their experience and perspectives in spite of their busy schedule in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.