TY - JOUR

T1 - Engaging Scientific Diasporas in STEAM Education

T2 - The Case of Science Clubs Colombia

AU - Avendano-Uribe, Bryann E

AU - Lombana-Bermudez, Andres

AU - Flórez, Laura V.

AU - Chaparro, Elisa

AU - Hernandez-Morales, Adriana Carolina

AU - Archbold, Jorge

AU - Buitrago-Casas, Juan Camilo

AU - Porras, Ana Maria

N1 - Copyright © 2022 Avendano-Uribe, Lombana-Bermudez, Flórez, Chaparro, Hernandez-Morales, Archbold, Buitrago-Casas and Porras.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Currently, there is limited insight on the role that scientific diasporas can play in STEAM education in Latin America. Here, we present the Science Clubs Colombia (Clubes de Ciencia Colombia-SCC) program, a pioneering STEAM capacity-building initiative led by volunteer scientists to engage youth and children from underserved communities in science. The program brings together researchers based in Colombia and abroad to lead intensive project-based learning workshops for young students in urban and rural areas. These projects focus on channeling the students' technical and cognitive scientific aptitudes to tackle challenges of both local and global relevance. The program provides high-quality STEAM education adapted to communities' needs and articulates long-lasting international collaborations using the mobility of the Colombian diaspora. The program's success is tangible via its sustained growth and adaptability. Since its first version in 2015, 722 volunteer scientists living abroad or in Colombia have collaborated to create 364 clubs with the participation of 9,295 students. We describe elements of the SCC program that lead to a scalable and reproducible outcome to engage science diasporas in STEAM education. Additionally, we discuss the involvement of multiple stakeholders and the generation of international networks as potential science diplomacy outcomes. The SCC program strengthens the involvement of Latin American youth in science, demonstrates the potential of engaging scientific diasporas in science education, and enriches connections between the Global South and the Global North.

AB - Currently, there is limited insight on the role that scientific diasporas can play in STEAM education in Latin America. Here, we present the Science Clubs Colombia (Clubes de Ciencia Colombia-SCC) program, a pioneering STEAM capacity-building initiative led by volunteer scientists to engage youth and children from underserved communities in science. The program brings together researchers based in Colombia and abroad to lead intensive project-based learning workshops for young students in urban and rural areas. These projects focus on channeling the students' technical and cognitive scientific aptitudes to tackle challenges of both local and global relevance. The program provides high-quality STEAM education adapted to communities' needs and articulates long-lasting international collaborations using the mobility of the Colombian diaspora. The program's success is tangible via its sustained growth and adaptability. Since its first version in 2015, 722 volunteer scientists living abroad or in Colombia have collaborated to create 364 clubs with the participation of 9,295 students. We describe elements of the SCC program that lead to a scalable and reproducible outcome to engage science diasporas in STEAM education. Additionally, we discuss the involvement of multiple stakeholders and the generation of international networks as potential science diplomacy outcomes. The SCC program strengthens the involvement of Latin American youth in science, demonstrates the potential of engaging scientific diasporas in science education, and enriches connections between the Global South and the Global North.

U2 - 10.3389/frma.2022.898167

DO - 10.3389/frma.2022.898167

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35837664

VL - 7

JO - Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics

JF - Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics

SN - 2504-0537

M1 - 898167

ER -