Chapter 3: Teaching Science to Diverse Learners
Objectives:
1. Discuss diversity in today’s middle and high school
2. Examine equity in science education materials and
situations
3. Determine how to meet the needs of behavior
disordered, physically disabled, and gifted students
4. How to respond to diverse cognitive levels
I.
Student Diversity
A.
Diversity is increasing in our classrooms
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
B.
Factors: immigration, birthrates,
“White” 12% decrease from 1976 to 1996 (39 million)
African American increase by 17% (8 million)
Hispanic more than doubled (6 million)
Asian, Native American, Others (2 million)
Factors Affecting Success in Science
1.
2.
Diversity itself doesn’t affect success in science
Factors related to diversity can
a.
b.
c.
Socioeconomic status is most powerful factor in success
i.
Disproportionate number of African Americans, Hispanics, and
Native Americans are poor
ii. Student lack experiences of others
English as a second language: extra challenge besides content
Rural upbringing: fewer choices and experiences
II.
Equity in Science Education
A.
What it means
1.
2.
3.
All students have same opportunity to learn science
Outcome is all citizens being science literate
Reasons to make this happen (Lynch, 1996)
a.
b.
B.
Better prepared workforce for increasingly technical jobs
Social Justice: a US value that education is for all
Multicultural Science Education
1.
2.
3.
4.
In the past remediation for lack of skill, knowledge or attitude was
thought to be the way to achieve equity
Today: value diversity of culture; don’t try to assimilate everyone
Goal: present science in a way attractive and accessible to all
Is Science a Universal “way of knowing”
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Universalist Perspective: there is only one reality, thus one science
Fails to consider alternative interpretations as science
Not all knowledge systems are equally sound
US students need to understand Western Science
Instruction can be done in an accepting and valuing way
C. The Multicultural Science Classroom
1. Content Integration
a. Use examples and content from a variety of cultures and groups
b. Baptiste, 1996 points out three levels
i. Level One = awareness (point out ethnicity of Nobel winner)
ii. Level Two = integration (nutritional value of cultural foods)
iii. Level Three = culture as centerpiece of curriculum (Ethnobotany)
c. Publishers are beginning to include multiculturalism in texts
2. Cultural Harmony
a. Learning is meaningful when culture facilitates rather than impedes
i. Home language or highly visual printed materials
ii. Peer tutoring with similar students in small groups is less
threatening
iii. Culturally familiar role models (Hispanic Biologist)
iv. Hands-on and experimental activities
b. “Border Crossing” impedes learning
i. Logic, ambiguity, evidence over authority may not be valued
ii. Teacher needs to find out about these difference
3. Countering Racism
a. Blatant racism in texts and teacher is not usually a problem anymore
b. Ignorance is still a problem
i. Anatomy using pig may be offensive to Jewish students
ii. Evolution instruction may be offensive to fundamentalists
c. Learning styles
i. Dominant white culture usually independent learners
ii. Other cultures: personal, one-on-one, collaborative learners
D. Gender and Science Education
1. Science as socially constructed, passionate, accessible will be
more attractive to female students
2. Gender Identity
a. Children learn quickly that certain behaviors “go” with their gender
i. Boys are rewarded for aggressive play
ii. Girls are encouraged to be more emotional and passive
b. Science is generally presented as a masculine enterprise
i. Sheer number of male vs. female scientists
ii. Physical science classes usually mostly boys
iii. Need to value the feminine side important to science
3. Gender Equitable science education
a. Females prefer connected learning where concepts are arrived at,
rather than having fact presented as from “authority”
b. Use social context to frame science concepts
c. Emphasize the aesthetic appeal of science
d. Emphasize the social and cooperative nature of science
e. Explore multiple views of concepts allowing for intuition/personal feeling
f. Use biographical study of scientists a passionate human beings
g. Value listening, supporting, and negotiating skills
h. Use a variety of assessment techniques; some of which are supportive
III. Exceptional Students
A. Inclusion and the law
1. Federal law mandates “Least Restrictive Environment”
a. Often interpreted as the regular classroom
b. Students requiring instructional accommodations will be in your class
2. IEP = Individualized Education Program
a. Must be written for every special need student
b. Team of educators collaborate with student to write
c. Contains goals, instructional activities, and evaluation procedures
B. Learning Disabilities and Behavioral Disorders
1. Learning Disabilities
a. Student of average or greater intelligence with some disfunction
b. Impedes ability to take in or process information
c. May result in difficulty reading or writing
2. Behavior Disorders
a. Students that engage in behaviors that interfere with learning or
relationships
b. May result in inability to concentrate, lack of motivation, aggression
3. Considerations for the teacher
a. Learn as much as you can about the students abilities and disabilities
b. Ask the student for help in designing accommodations = best source
c. Don’t lower your expectations
i. Pull-out programs often happen during “hard” science classes
ii. Self-fulfilling prophesies of poor performance
d. Strategies that work for disabled students ought to work with others
4. Modifications
a. Activity oriented rather than language oriented lessons
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Emphasize structure, redundancy, enthusiasm, pace
Partner regular students with disabled students
Use checklists for students to monitor own behavior
Reduce abstraction; break into parts
Use performance assessments to access understanding
C. Physical Disabilities
1. Visual Impairments
a. Range from blindness to narrow field of vision to extreme
nearsightedness
b. Language used can make a big difference
i. here, there, near, over there are meaningless
ii. Specific language useful: “the table against the back wall”
c. Physical considerations: good lighting, seated near chalkboard, large
printed materials, etc…
d. Laboratory
i. Projected microscope images
ii. “Smellable” acid/base indicators
iii. Safety precautions must be reconsidered in context of abilities
2. Hearing Impairments
a. Challenges
i. Reading skills may be delayed due to difficult initial instruction
ii. Social barrier because of lack of communication with peers
iii. Language and speech is often the main focus of education
b. Inquiry and activity-oriented experiences most useful
c. Don’t “forget” about the impairment: students will fake comprehension
d. Wear microphone direct to student
e. Modifications
i. Repeat questions asked by other students before answering
ii. Use visual aids; close caption videos
iii. Arrange to get notes from teacher or other students
iv. Write new science terms on the chalkboard
3. Orthopedic and Health Impairments
a.
b.
c.
d.
Wide range of possible conditions and accommodations needed
Students have often been denied science instruction previously
Understand the condition and the limitations
Actively solicit input from the student about his/her needs
D. Gifted and Talented Students
1. An often overlooked “special needs” population
2. Work with team to develop long-range talent development plans
3. Acceleration = moving through subject matter faster than usual
a.
b.
c.
d.
Join other class for science
Credit by examination
Teacher is responsible for “class within a class” = increased work
Does show benefits to student
4. Enrichment = additional experiences beyond regular class
a.
b.
c.
d.
Added assignments, field trips, competitions, etc…
Saturday or mini-courses
Matching student with a mentor such as a practicing scientist
Research opportunities
i. Especially helpful in challenging gifted students
ii. Provide opportunities for creative and novel contributions
5. AP courses = acceleration + enrichment + college credit
IV. Adolescent Development and Science Education
A.
Cognitive Development
1.
Piaget’s cognitive development
a.
b.
2.
Concrete operational: (6-18 years)
i.
Logical thinking
ii. Mental operations tied to concrete objects
iii. Necessary for learning most science content
iv. Require concrete examples and experiences
Formal operational (12-adult)
i.
Thinking abstractly
ii. Dealing with multiple variables
iii. Reason logically about hypothetical situations
iv. Formulate hypotheses
v. Can comprehend and utilize even complex science reasoning
Vygotsky’s influence of culture on cognitive development
a.
b.
c.
d.
Interactions with people and language tied to development
Private speech = talking yourself through a problem
Zone of Proximal Development = teachable moment; when the learner
can reach higher understanding but it requires guidance
Private speech replaces teacher’s guidance as skills develop
3. Information Processing
a. How does age effect the ability to process information
b. Receptiveness to new information
i. Perception: adolescents perceive what is already familiar (green
oval must be a chloroplast because I already know what they are)
ii. Attention: ability to do multiple tasks increases as some become
automatic (do multiplication automatically, so think about moles)
c. Memory capacity
i. Adolescents have more memory strategies than children
ii. Summarizing, mental images, analogies, etc…
iii. The more you already know about something, the easier it is to
learn new information
B. Development Implications for Science Instruction
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Realize that multiple levels of development will be present in class
Chemistry may be the most abstract; you can see biology/physics
Share your thoughts as you work problems to model thinking
Listen to students think aloud as they do problems
Dealing with unwanted behaviors is a part of secondary teaching:
physical and social development (not covered here)