VCU news

By Laura O’Brien

Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Education has secured a four-year, $1.7 million federal grant to pursue a research project aimed at enhancing science learning opportunities for historically marginalized middle school students.

The project integrates scientific discourse with students’ everyday experiences, while leveraging technology for a more inclusive approach to science education. Called “Hybrid²: Creating Equitable Spaces for Science Discourse in Blended Learning Environments,” the project is being funded by the National Center for Education Research, which addresses significant education issues in the United States. The center is part of the Institute of Education Sciences, which is the statistics, research and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education.

“Creating equitable learning opportunities is central to our mission, and this project embodies that commitment by engaging middle school students in meaningful, relevant science learning,” said Kathleen Rudasill, Ph.D., interim dean of the School of Education. “The Hybrid² project has the potential to transform how science is taught and experienced, especially for students who have been underserved by traditional STEM education.”

Hybrid² represents an interdisciplinary research practice partnership uniting internationally recognized scholars, nonprofit organization leaders and K12 educators. The project is being led by principal investigator Christine Lee Bae, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Foundations of Education in the VCU School of Education. The co-Pis are John Fife, Ph.D., director of VCU’s Center for Innovation in STEM Education, and Michigan State University professors Kui Xie, Ph.D., and Joseph Krajcik, Ph.D., as well as Leena McLean Bakshi, Ed.D., executive director of STEM4Real, and education leaders in Richmond and Lansing public schools.

Lee Bae has previously worked with the San Francisco Bay Area Science Partnership and her Discourse Learning Lab’s Science Discourse Project. With grants exceeding $5 million in cumulative funding since 2018, Lee Bae has partnered with science education leaders, faculty and middle school science teachers across regions in the U.S. to connect science to students’ lived experiences.

“Science is more than facts and formulas; it’s a critical lens for understanding the world — and when students see their lives reflected in that lens, it becomes transformative,” Lee Bae said. “Our responsibility as educators is to make the science classroom a place where every student feels seen, valued and capable of shaping the future. To do that, we must partner authentically with classroom teachers, respecting their insights and empowering them to bridge the gap between school and youths’ lives.”

The Hybrid² project will take place in Virginia and Michigan middle schools, focusing on students who historically have had limited access to high-quality STEM education. Through action research with middle school teachers, the study will examine how Hybrid² learning — which combines science discourse with real-life experiences and blends in-person with digital learning — can foster deeper student engagement, agency and academic achievement in science.

In the project’s first phase in Virginia, researchers and teachers will explore the Hybrid² framework in science classrooms through lesson study cycles. Lesson study puts teachers in charge of the action research as they collaboratively plan the lessons, conduct observations of each other’s teaching and use evidence-based reflections to determine improvements.

The second phase will scale these efforts in Michigan to include an additional cohort of teachers and students, further developing Hybrid² discourse activities to meet diverse educational needs across contexts.