Petrosino and Sager Present Research in Denver, CO at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching - March 17, 2024 - March 20, 2024 - "Urban Farming within a Transdisciplinary Research Practice Partnership"

NARST is a global organization of professionals committed to the improvement of science teaching and learning through research. Since its inception in 1928, NARST has promoted research in science education and the communication of knowledge generated by the research. The ultimate goal of NARST is to help all learners achieve science literacy. NARST promotes this goal by: 1) encouraging and supporting the application of diverse research methods and theoretical perspectives from multiple disciplines to the investigation of teaching and learning in science; 2) communicating science education research findings to researchers, practitioners, and policy makers; and 3) cooperating with other educational and scientific societies to influence educational policies.

The following is an ABSTRACT of a paper my PhD student and I are presenting at NARST 2024 in Denver, Colorado entitled Urban Farming within a Transdisciplinary Research Practice Partnership

Abstract

One way to create more sustainable transdisciplinary research networks is through establishing research practice partnerships (RPPs) between an urban farm, a faculty and staff from a Historically Black College, and researchers at a medium-sized private university. We investigate student-workers’ resiliency at an urban farm situated on the campus of a Historically Black College. This study draws from literature that explores tensions between informal learning environments and formal spaces, equitable food and farming systems, and the resiliency of farm works, and is grounded in the theory of situated cognition. Utilizing a participatory design research approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews and deductively analyzed the data using critical food systems education. Our findings revealed what socio-scientific topics are discussed on an urban farm: 1) how participants were eager to engage with the local community; 2) how the participants demonstrated resiliency while working on the urban farm; 3) how power dynamics played a pivotal role to inform the direction of the urban farm; 3) how participants consider the community’s access to healthy foods an important mission for the farm. Our findings help deepen our understanding of the socio-scientific issues within an informal science education space.