Postdoctoral Fellowship: STEMEdIPRF: Advancing Accessibility in Biology Fieldwork Through Participatory Design

About This Grant

Dr. Chasen has been awarded a fellowship to conduct research and professional development activities under the mentorship of Dr. Shalene Jha, Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. The STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (STEM Ed PRF) Program funds postdoctoral fellowship projects designed to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of STEM education research by recent doctoral graduates in STEM. This project advances biology fieldwork—such as studying plants, animals, and ecosystems— that is a critical component of STEM education and workforce development. However, many students, such as those with disabilities, face physical, logistical, and institutional challenges that limit their participation. Solutions are often developed without input from the students they are meant to support. This project uses collaborative, participatory research to identify practical strategies for improving access for all students to biological fieldwork. The insights gained from this research will be used to create tools, based on students' lived experience, that help educators increase participation of all students in field-based science. Advancing access to fieldwork has the potential to increase workforce participation and retention in biological sciences. This project will also provide invaluable training to a STEM education researcher. This study has two primary aims. First, it will identify barriers to participation in ecological fieldwork by having students engage in participatory design activities, where they will review, revise, and implement standard field protocols. Data will be collected on access challenges, student-driven adaptations, and evolving perceptions of fieldwork. This data will be gathered through cognitive interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and pre/post quantitative surveys conducted during normal ecological tasks such as soil, bird, and vegetation sampling. Second, the study will examine how direct involvement in redesigning field activities influences students’ engagement with STEM and their sense of preparedness for STEM careers. Findings will support the development of practitioner-oriented tools, such as field accessibility audits and teaching guides, that help science educators align instruction with the needs of a wider range of learners, including those with disabilities. 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.