Engaging and Supporting Culturally Diverse Audiences

This two hour special workshop was held during the 2012 ASP conference in Tucson. There are a variety of reasons that science education needs to reach out to culturally diverse audiences. Each culture, and each individual community, has its own challenges; each brings special insight to science. What does the research say about engaging these different audiences? How can science educators attract and sustain programs with various cultures? How do the needs of our audiences vary with culture and within communities? Moderators Shupla, Sanlyn, and Peticolas invited a variety of presenters with expertise to share their experiences: Salvador Acevado, David Begay, Michelle Higgins, Bryan Mendez, and Dara Norman. During the first hour, presenters shared a variety of best practices for engaging and supporting culturally diverse audiences; in the second hour, participants and presenters discussed specific programmatic challenges and possible directions.