S.T.E.A.M. for Social Justice: Using Inquiry Skills to Create Changes in Your World

During the last week of May, Florida Atlantic University’s Student Affairs & Enrollment Management office, the Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry, and Dillard Elementary School partnered to bring fifty 5th grade students to FAU for an experiential field trip. The week was called: S.T.E.A.M. for Social Justice: Using Inquiry Skills to Create Changes in Your World. FAU Professors, Dr. Traci P. Baxley and Dr. Dilys Schoorman along with Dr. Kalisha Waldon and doctoral students Allyson Hall, Iris Minor, and Ramonia Rochester worked with Karen McDaniels, Director for Strategic Planning and Academic Initiatives, to implement a curriculum that integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) content with tenets of equity and social justice pedagogy.

Students enjoyed a four day, three night stay in one of FAU’s premiere dormitories and were challenged to become socially conscious entrepreneurs of a business focused on developing a service or product that would help to mitigate the effects of Hunger and Abuse in their own community. The focal issues, Hunger and Abuse, came directly from the students’ brainstorming session, which was facilitated at Dillard Elementary by members of the curriculum development team prior to the on campus fieldtrip.

Students were given journals to record their thinking, questions, and experiences during the hands-on lessons which were the foundational components of social issue research, structuring a business and marketing plan, creating a budget, the fundamentals of graphic, logo, and website design, statistical analysis, critical media literacy, engineering, and business communications. Several FAU faculty members from colleges across the campus, including the librarians from the Wimberly library, donated their time and resources to help the students develop their social conscious businesses and hone their inquiry skills.

The week concluded with a presentation to FAU College of Business graduate students, local business owners and political leaders, family and friends. The Dillard students presented their final “pitch” to prominent FAU community members and public figures. In attendance was FAU V.P. of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, Dr. Corey King, FAU Interim Chief Sean Brammer, Candidate for Florida State Representative, Whitney Rawls, and Chief Constance Stanley of the Lauderhill Police Department to name a few. Under the tutelage of the CCEI/Dillard instructional team, students participated in a mock “Shark Tank” session where they vied for the support of their business from the panel of judges and received feedback and constructive criticism on their entrepreneurial skills and its ability to make a social, systemic, and sustainable difference in their community.

With the support of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, the Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry and Dillard Elementary hope to continue this experience for years to come. We encourage all members of the FAU community to get involved in future partnerships that will help to strengthen community relationships and educate on the imperative of multicultural education.