Background Reading on Inclusive STEM Practices
Note that these readings were compiled from Spring 2016 course, and include a rough guideline on some of the selected readings. We will update these readings to provide a more thorough review on the background of inclusive practices in the STEM Classroom.
If science wants to benefit from the talents of people from all backgrounds, then diversity efforts must focus on making sure there are more pathways that allow capable, hard-working people to join and participate in the field.
Kenneth Gibbs, Jr., Beyond "The Pipeline"
This article provided a great overview of the pipeline system the STEM field so heavily relies on. In the blog post, Kenneth Gibbs Jr. shows although our system has become accustomed to the pipeline system in creating the next generation of brilliant scientists, non-majority students are finding themselves left behind. Gibbs provides a great framework for starting to think about ways we can begin to think about creating more inclusive classrooms aimed at reaching students from all different backgrounds.
Katherine Phillips provides us with an excellent overview of the importance of creating especially diverse learning spaces. When students are put into diverse situations, studies show they think more creatively and solve problems more effectively than when they are in homogenous groups. She provides evidence that diversity works to “promote hard work and creativity; by encouraging the consideration of alternatives even before any interpersonal interaction takes place”.
How to recruit and retain underrepresented minorities
Though this article focuses on the state of minority groups in marine-science related fields, the findings are applicable to all STEM-related courses. Ashanti Johnson, the founder of Minorities Striving to Pursue Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Sciences and one of the coauthors, talks about the importance of the having more representation of minority groups in higher level education and its vitality to having successful and innovative professional scientist. More importantly he makes the distinction that the world of STEM does not need to increase the percentage of monorty groups receiving degrees in STEM, silly meeting a quota, but rather it is important to create a system that provides the opportunity for talented individuals to grow and encourage them to share their perspective. In compliment of Johnson’s portion, one of his former students, Melanie Harrison Okoro, shares his own experience as a minority in a largely homogenous field and the importance of increasing diversity. As outlined in the article, it is extremely important to implement programs that cater to the needs of minorities in order to have more individuals continue on in STEM and have a career in the field. Additionally, both authors emphasize that it is not only important to change the higher education system to validate the minorities, but also promoting programs that encourage the youth in the primary education system (K-12) to engage in STEM related activities. Ultimately, there is much to be done in regards to diversity in STEM, and though there exist successful programs that address these issues, a lot more needs to be done to improve the environment of the STEM to be one where anyone with a passion and talent for STEM can flourish and engage in more problem-solving scenarios.
Scientific Teaching
Scientific Teaching by HHMI Professor Jo Handelsman in collaboration with Sarah Miller and Christine Pfund from the Wisconsin Program for Scientific Teaching (WPST) is a great read that outlines key finding on their research with respect to education, learning, and cognitive psychology. These findings are separated into six chapters all of which are supported by research and classrooms examples. One chapter, for example, outlines the importance of diversity in the scientific community and the importance of having representation to not only enhance the field, but to also provide room for growth and innovation. Additionally, the authors discuss the different forms of diversity, intellectual and physical, and how each affects how students learn. They also discuss how this differences affect how students perceive themselves in higher education, especially in the science field, and how it can prevent individuals from continuing in the field because the individual’s needs are not met. Handelsman and his co-authors discuss the importance of being aware of the individual and how being conscious of diversity will yield a better teaching environment that will allow all students to flourish and encourages those that have the ability to succeed to continue in the sciences rather than leaving.
The great thing about this book is that the authors are not afraid of presenting their findings. They are aware that the reader may at times feel uncomfortable or feel angered by what is found, but they don’t downplay that ultimate goal of the book. Scientific Teaching encourages the reader to rethink what it means to not only be an educator in the sciences but also what it means to be an individual in the sciences. It presents methods that can help guide the field to a more inclusive and enriching path that will provide equal opportunities for everyone and in the process improve the field and expand it by including more diverse minds in the dialogue. Scientific Teaching is a good book to read to achieve an understanding on what needs to be changed in the sciences and goes hand in hand with what this class aimed to achieve; understanding that students, as well as staff and faculty, are ultimately humans. Acknowledging that is the first step to achieving a more inclusive and nourishing scientific community.
The great thing about this book is that the authors are not afraid of presenting their findings. They are aware that the reader may at times feel uncomfortable or feel angered by what is found, but they don’t downplay that ultimate goal of the book. Scientific Teaching encourages the reader to rethink what it means to not only be an educator in the sciences but also what it means to be an individual in the sciences. It presents methods that can help guide the field to a more inclusive and enriching path that will provide equal opportunities for everyone and in the process improve the field and expand it by including more diverse minds in the dialogue. Scientific Teaching is a good book to read to achieve an understanding on what needs to be changed in the sciences and goes hand in hand with what this class aimed to achieve; understanding that students, as well as staff and faculty, are ultimately humans. Acknowledging that is the first step to achieving a more inclusive and nourishing scientific community.
Often times it is easy to forget the mentors and educators that have helped us along the road to success. However, as educators and researchers, it is important to remember that for many students just starting out in STEM, especially underrepresented minority students and students from low income backgrounds, do not have access to opportunities that foster developing those important close relationships and becoming integrated into a network of support. Becky Wai-Ling Packard addresses this in her book Successful STEM Mentoring Initiatives for Underrepresented College Students. The goal of the book is to provide a guide to educators in designing an appropriate mentoring program that not only invites underrepresented individuals to various fields of STEM, but also encourages them to stay through concrete programmatic structures.
The book begins by clearly articulating the real and perceived barriers that underrepresented students encounter when enrolling and participating in science courses, as well the issues they face at various stages in their education, from entering college to declaring a major to moving on to a profession. She then highlights a range of existing mentoring options that target students at different stages of their STEM path: transition to college, transition to major, and transition out of college.
For each of these transitions, she presenting guidelines to designing a successful mentorship program through a series of questions that departments should ask when designing the program. Each chapter is broken down into key questions which are answered using research and data that provide great textual support in regard to the importance of having these programs implemented and why it is the responsibility of the educator to provide it. Additionally, through this step-by-step manner of approaching the subject, the reader is encouraged to reflect upon their own situation, what resources they have and don’t have, identify what is the priority, set goals, and, based off that, implement practices that will efficiently achieve these goals.
This is an amazing book to read to understand the challenges of students in the STEM classroom, and to help guide the design of an effective mentoring program that will work for your students in the context of your department’s values and realities. It is irrefutable that mentorship is key in being successful in STEM, the question is how do you provide it? Successful STEM Mentoring Initiatives for Underrepresented College Students provides a short yet comprehensive guide to design a program that encourages the designer to reflect on the barriers underrepresented students face, the condition of their department or institution, and the importance being conscious of all this is to yield successful students that have the potential to contribute so much to the scientific community. However, this is just the beginning of what this book has to offer and we encourage everyone to read it.
Structure Matters: 21 teaching strategies to promote student engagement
and cultivate classroom equity
and cultivate classroom equity
by Kimberly D. Tanner, Department of Biology, San Francisco State University
CBE—Life Sciences Education Vol. 12, 322–331, Fall 2013
"These teaching strategies are sometimes referred to as “equitable teaching strategies,” whereby striving for “classroom equity” is about teaching all the students in your classroom, not just those who are already engaged, already participating, and perhaps already know the biology being taught. Equity, then, is about striving to structure biology classroom environments that maximize fairness, wherein all students have opportunities to verbally participate, all students can see their personal connections to biology, all students have the time to think, all students can pose ideas and construct their knowledge of biology, and all students are explicitly welcomed into the intellectual discussion of biology. Without attention to the structure of class- room interactions, what can often ensue is a wonderfully designed biology lesson that can be accessed by only a small subset of students in a classroom."
CBE—Life Sciences Education Vol. 12, 322–331, Fall 2013
"These teaching strategies are sometimes referred to as “equitable teaching strategies,” whereby striving for “classroom equity” is about teaching all the students in your classroom, not just those who are already engaged, already participating, and perhaps already know the biology being taught. Equity, then, is about striving to structure biology classroom environments that maximize fairness, wherein all students have opportunities to verbally participate, all students can see their personal connections to biology, all students have the time to think, all students can pose ideas and construct their knowledge of biology, and all students are explicitly welcomed into the intellectual discussion of biology. Without attention to the structure of class- room interactions, what can often ensue is a wonderfully designed biology lesson that can be accessed by only a small subset of students in a classroom."