Youth Authored Multimodal Digital Video: Expansive Learning, Counterstories, and Critical Science Literacy

Youth participants in an informal after school science program created a multimodal digital video public service announcement video. This paper considers the counterstories that emerge within the video and during the making of the video that challenge existing definitions of science literacy. The investigation suggests youth engage in expansive learning where vertical knowledge and horizontal knowledge inform their actions toward community based energy issues. Vertical knowledge describes the scientific knowledge youth engage while horizontal knowledge refers to the locally situated knowledge necessary to move between communities. I argue that youth counterstories and expansive learning are key elements of critical science literacy. Critical science literacy takes place when science is transformed in ways that allow traditionally marginalized individuals to gain power and agency to oppose the forces of marginalization and strive for justice.