This dissertation is an invitation into our beloved biology classroom. Weaving hermeneutic phenomenology and critical participatory teacher action research, this study investigated self as teacher and two cohorts of student participants in a high school biology experience utilizing an 'Aina Aloha praxis. Articulating my ongoing 'Aina Aloha praxis,…

Despite the potential of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to positively impact science education, educators require time and support to learn the standards and their implications for science teaching and learning in the classroom. The Hawai'i Department of Education adopted the NGSS in 2016. While schools received professional…

To increase equity and inclusion for underserved and excluded Indigenous students, we must make efforts to mitigate the unique barriers they face. As their knowledge systems have been historically excluded and erased in Western science, we begin by reviewing the literature on the inclusion of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in biology…

This study applies human-centered design principles and involves end users in creating a usable knowledge graph. The aim was to explore the potential advantages of capturing and presenting networked knowledge in a domain for information discovery and decision-making purposes. The case taken for the research is the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program…

This mixed method study explored the beliefs of teachers in religious schools regarding evolution, their attitudes toward evolution, and their teaching of evolutionary content along with Christian high school biology teachers' perceptions regarding how their religious beliefs affected their teaching of evolution. The quantitative portion of the…

Three studies were conducted for this dissertation around the broader topic of improving undergraduate health research training programs for Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Peoples (NHOPP), and increasing the likelihood of NHOPP pursuing health science research careers. The first study systematically examined existing published literature on…

This dissertation documents the lives of six science teachers whose multifaceted identities were influenced over time by Hawai'i's unique sociocultural and biogeographical factors. Narrative inquiry was utilized through individual interviews which spanned a five-year period. From "restorying," identity narratives and maps were…

Conderman and Sheldon Woods (2008) suggest that although science plays a central role in our world today, science instruction seems to be minimized particularly at the elementary grade levels. Research has investigated the construct of efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 2006a; Riggs & Enochs, 1990; Ramey-Gassert, Shroyer & Staver, 1996;…

This research explored the effectiveness of "Ka Hana 'Imi Na 'auao," a culturally responsive science curriculum developed for Hawaiian and other students in Hawai'i high schools. An instrument, The Culturally Responsive Science Perception (CRSP) inventory was developed to measure students' (a) perceptions of their science self-efficacy,…

To protect and conserve the Earth's biodiversity and ecosystem services, it is important not only to understand and conserve species and ecosystems, but also to instill an understanding and appreciation for biodiversity and ecosystem services in the next generations of both scientists and citizens. Thus, this dissertation combines research into…