Enhancing Student Learning using Indigenous Learning Circles in STEM Education
March 11, 2025
Presenters:
- Vivian Dayeh (Biology)
- Brenda Lee (Physics and Astronomy)
- Savannah Sloat (Science Indigenous Initiatives)
- Salma Aldeeb, Makenzie Campbell, and Vanessa Watters (former BIOL 354- Environmental Toxicology students with Vivian Dayeh)
In this session Vivian Dayeh (Biology), Brenda Lee (Physics and Astronomy) and Savannah Sloat (Science Indigenous Initiatives), with three of Vivian’s former students shared their experience implementing a teaching and learning system based on an Indigenous Learning Circle methodology. This LITE grant project was undertaken with the goal of enhancing student learning in STEM courses during lecture and tutorials.
The Learning Circles methodology provided students a chance to participate in relational and reciprocal learning, which is sometimes overlooked in traditional didactic lectures or tutorials. In turn, students fostered critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, increased engagement, and community building. The LITE grant funded project promoted a shared responsibility for learning by encouraging collaborative and cooperative learning among students and provided a relational framework that can be applied to large STEM courses across the institution.
During the session, the instructors shared their motivations for implementing learning circles, the logistics of implementing it into the courses, the impact that this had on student learning and explored how this methodology might be useful in other disciplines.