Building schemas through the lived experiences of an African American roller coaster engineer: Interdisciplinary...

This research is part of a larger goal to capture the heritage, lived experiences, and scientific and cultural capital of Black people in the United States in the science curricula. This research examines the impact of a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) physics curriculum created for the K-12 classroom, which began with the lived experiences and narratives of an African American engineer. Multimedia and other curriculum products were developed and implemented using best practices in science education pedagogy. Participants were Black homeschoolers ages 3 to 14 and their parents located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Implementation was virtual, with Black homeschooled children meeting weekly on Zoom for 1 hour for a total of 8 weeks. This study used a pragmatic approach that combined the disciplinary expertise of multiple researchers to identify the best frameworks for capturing the emergent themes and essence of the interactions from video recordings and transcripts. Schema theory and Funds of Knowledge served as frameworks to explore and explain the large volume of video dialogues and transcripts emerging from this implementation. The study revealed themes and patterns which support best practices in content creation that centers Black narratives and lived experiences in the science curricula. The research has important implications for creating curricula that center cultural and heritage knowledge in meaningful ways in the science and STEM curricula using interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches.