Journal Club: Developing your Students' Science Identity

×

Students in Lynsey LeMay's Oceanography course, Thomas Nelson Community College

Provenance: Lynsey LeMay, Thomas Nelson Community College
Reuse: If you wish to use this item outside this site in ways that exceed fair use (see http://fairuse.stanford.edu/) you must seek permission from its creator.

Overview

We will consider ways in which our courses and programs support building a student's science identity. This topic is especially important for students who traditionally have not seen themselves as being represented in STEM professions, including women, underrepresented minorities, people with disabilities, and first-generation college students.

Discussion series goals

Participants will choose strategies that to implement in their courses and programs that promote the development of science identity in their students.

Structure and format

Prior to the first meeting:

• Participants read three papers:
  • Sarah L. Rodriguez, Kelly Cunningham, and Alec Jordan, 2016: What a Scientist Looks Like: How Community Colleges Can Utilize and Enhance Science Identity Development as a Means to Improve Success for Women of Color, Community College Journal of Research and Practice. DOI: 10.1080/10668926.2016.1251354
  • Schinske J., Perkins, H., Snyder, A., and Wyer, M. 2016. Scientist Spotlight Homework Assignments Shift Students' Stereotypes of Scientists and Enhance Science Identity in a Diverse Introductory Science Class. CBE - Life Sciences Education 15 (3)
  • Alonzo M. Flowers III and Rosa Banda, 2016. Cultivating science identity through sources of self-efficacy. Journal for Multicultural Education 10 (3) 405-417. DOI 10.1108/JME-01-2016-001.
• By 2 days before the 1^st meeting:
  • Participants post a short reflection on our (password-protected) discussion board.
    • What questions or topics would you like to discuss, arising from your reading?
    • If you have incorporated activities that address this topic, please briefly describe what you have done.
  • Participants read and comment on other participants' posts on the discussion board.

1^st meeting:

• Discussion of topics/questions posed by the participants after reading the papers.
• Discussion of what more can you do, how are you going to engage your colleagues in doing this, and how do we codify these ideas in some fashion for the broader STEM education community?

Prior to the second meeting:

• By 2 days before the meeting:
  • Each participant will post their ideas of what they have implemented and what they plan to implement.
  • If you have an idea for additional "scientist spotlights," tell us about the scientist(s).

2^ndmeeting:

• Review the ideas for implementation posted on the discussion board.
• Discussion of future work.

Timing

This group met twice, with a two-week interval between meetings. Adding a third meeting would allow participants to read and discuss additional articles and/or develop some "scientist spotlights" for use in their courses.

Additional resources

Develop Students' Science Identity: web resources from the SAGE 2YC project, including a collection of scientist career profiles modeled after Schinske et al.'s "scientist spotlights."

References

• Callahan, Caitlin N., Nicole D. LaDue, Lorenzo D. Baber, Julie Sexton, Katrien J. van der Hoeven Kraft, and Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher (2017). Theoretical Perspectives on Increasing Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented Students in the Geosciences. Journal of Geoscience Education, 65(4), 563–576.
• Flowers, Alonzo M. III and Rosa Banda, 2016. Cultivating science identity through sources of self-efficacy. Journal for Multicultural Education 10 (3) 405-417. DOI 10.1108/JME-01-2016-001.
• Pelch, Michael A. and David A. McConnell (2017). How Does Adding an Emphasis on Socioscientific Issues Influence Student Attitudes About Science, Its Relevance, and Their Interpretations of Sustainability?. Journal of Geoscience Education, 65(2), 203–214.
• Rodriguez, Sarah L., Kelly Cunningham, and Alec Jordan, 2016: What a Scientist Looks Like: How Community Colleges Can Utilize and Enhance Science Identity Development as a Means to Improve Success for Women of Color, Community College Journal of Research and Practice. DOI: 10.1080/10668926.2016.1251354
• Schinske J., Perkins, H., Snyder, A., and Wyer, M. 2016. Scientist Spotlight Homework Assignments Shift Students' Stereotypes of Scientists and Enhance Science Identity in a Diverse Introductory Science Class. CBE - Life Sciences Education 15 (3).