Exploring Student Engagement Through Culturally Responsive Science Teaching in Alaska

Abstract

Alaska Native high school students at Mt. Edgecumbe High School have often reported that science classes feel disconnected from their lives, cultures, and communities. This disconnect can lead to lower engagement, reduced confidence, and difficulty seeing the value of science in everyday life. The purpose of this action research project was to explore whether integrating Alaskan Native culturally responsive teaching methods into tenth-grade Physical Science instruction could increase students’ engagement, confidence in learning science, and their sense of relevance and connection to science content. To investigate this question, culturally responsive teaching methods were incorporated in lessons over a six week instructional semester for students in Physical Science classes (N=101). The methods included place-based examples/phenomena, connections to native subsistence practices, discussions of community issues, and Native elder speakers. Data was collected through student surveys, weekly classroom observations, reflective student work samples, and small group interviews. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and qualitative responses were coded for patterns related to engagement, confidence, and relevance. Results from the pre-treatment survey indicate that culturally responsive instruction has a positive influence on students’ experiences in science class. Some students, however, provided neutral or minimal responses, suggesting that not all cultural connections were equally impactful for all students and that implementation over time might affect the students’ perceptions of how their science identity and cultural identity are connected. The study shows that culturally responsive teaching can meaningfully improve student engagement and confidence in science classes and help students view science as more relevant to their lives and communities in Alaska. These findings suggest that continued development of culturally responsive science instruction may support stronger science identities and deeper learning experience for Alaska Native students. Future phases of the project could expand data collection, refine instructional practices, and explore how these approaches affect students’ academic performance in science.