Chapter Highlights

The following points outline key conceptual perspectives that frame STEM learning through sociocultural and economic lenses, emphasizing knowledge exchange, value systems, and the development of students’ scientific wealth.

• Exchange of Knowledge – Learners engage in the continual exchange of knowledge and meaning within both formal and informal STEM learning spaces.
• Scientific Currencies and Scientific Wealth – In STEM classrooms, learners participate in the exchange of currencies that include language, skills, identity, and culture. These economic and sociocultural traditions are conceptualized as currencies circulating within STEM education contexts, ultimately cultivating students’ scientific wealth. This metaphor offers a lens for reframing traditional notions of value in STEM education.
• Economic Motivations for STEM Education – Historical trends suggest that economic motivations, such as national security and global competitiveness, have significantly shaped the growth and policy emphasis of STEM education in the United States.
• Tenets of Sociocultural Theories – Core principles of sociocultural perspectives illuminate how forms of currency such as language, identity, and shared experience are exchanged within STEM education spaces, influencing participation, learning, and equity.