#105: Cultivating Boundary-Crossing STEM Competencies: Building Community and Embracing Other Ways of Knowing in Global Informal Learning

This paper examines how adolescents develop boundary-crossing STEM competencies through participation in an informal, globally networked virtual learning program. Using post-assessment interviews and recorded sessions of participating youth in Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, and the United States, we focus on two key competencies that emerged: Embracing Other Ways of Knowing and Building Community. These two competences reflect students’ growing ability to engage across cultural and geographic differences and to establish inclusive, collaborative practices of learning and working together. The findings underscore the promise of boundary-crossing, project-based environments for developing STEM identities and fostering the human-centered skills necessary for globally connected STEM learning and future collaboration.