Investigating the impacts of culturally relevant engineering design (CRED) on students’ perception and engagement in k-12 stem classroom

This study highlights effective strategies for enhancing student interest and participation in STEM education through culturally relevant approaches. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were engaged for this study. A survey was created and sent online to a group of grade 8 to 12 STEM students who completed the study. The interview questions were made and sent to 6 teachers. The qualitative data was taken and analyzed using descriptive findings and quantitative data was taken and analyzed via the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software to find relationships between culturally relevant engineering design (CRED) and students' perceptions and engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) classrooms. Our findings reveal a significant positive correlation between students' perceptions of culturally relevant engineering design and their engagement in STEM learning activities. Specifically, students who perceive culturally relevant engineering design positively demonstrate higher levels of engagement in STEM learning.