Enabling Student-led Research-informed & Negotiated Action (RiNA) Projects
This page provides teachers with suggestions and resources for facilitating – preferably after teacher-led apprenticeship lessons & activities – student-led RiNA projects to overcome harms in relationships among fields of science & technology and societies & environments (STSE) of their concern. Such projects are to be as student-directed (SD) & open-ended (OE) as possible, given school requirements for assessments of particular learning outcomes.
As presented in the video at right/below, ‘student-led’ RiNA projects are meant to allow student-directed (SD) topic choices & methods and open-ended (OE) conclusions. Such projects are meant to mimic – as close as possible – citizen sociopolitical actions, which should promote intellectual independence; that is, freedom to make decisions with minimal influences of powerful others. In formal schooling, however, it often is difficult to ensure such autonomy. Having said that, students often are more independent if they have had 3-phase STEPWISE lessons & activities. Providing them with minimal guidance in the project assignment (e.g., from these) also can help. Teachers may find, however, some students benefitting from resources like sample STSE Issues and RiNA Project eTools.
