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 DiversityA. Diversity is increasing in our classrooms

1. Factors: immigration, birthrates,

2. “White” 12% decrease from 1976 to 1996 (39 million)

3. African American increase by 17% (8 million)

4. Hispanic more than doubled (6 million)

5. Asian, Native American, Others (2 million)

B. Factors Affecting Success in Science1. Diversity itself doesn’t affect success in science

2. Factors related to diversity cana. 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

b. English as a second language: extra challenge besides content

c. Rural upbringing: fewer choices and experiences

II. Equity in Science EducationA. What it means

1. All students have same opportunity to learn science

2. Outcome is all citizens being science literate

3. Reasons to make this happen (Lynch, 1996)a. Better prepared workforce for increasingly technical jobs

b. Social Justice: a US value that education is for all

B. Multicultural Science Education1. In the past remediation for lack of skill, knowledge or attitude was

thought to be the way to achieve equity

2. Today: value diversity of culture; don’t try to assimilate everyone

3. Goal: present science in a way attractive and accessible to all

4. Is Science a Universal “way of knowing”a. Universalist Perspective: there is only one reality, thus one science

b. Fails to consider alternative interpretations as science

c. Not all knowledge systems are equally sound

d. US students need to understand Western Science

e. Instruction can be done in an accepting and valuing way

C. The Multicultural Science Classroom1. 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 Harmonya. 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 Racisma. 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 Education1. Science as socially constructed, passionate, accessible will be

more attractive to female students

2. Gender Identitya. 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 educationa. Females prefer connected learning where concepts are arrived at,

rather than having fact presented as from “authority”b. Use social context to frame science conceptsc. Emphasize the aesthetic appeal of scienced. Emphasize the social and cooperative nature of sciencee. Explore multiple views of concepts allowing for intuition/personal feelingf. Use biographical study of scientists a passionate human beingsg. Value listening, supporting, and negotiating skillsh. Use a variety of assessment techniques; some of which are supportive

III. Exceptional StudentsA. Inclusion and the law

1. Federal law mandates “Least Restrictive Environment”a. Often interpreted as the regular classroomb. Students requiring instructional accommodations will be in your class

2. IEP = Individualized Education Programa. Must be written for every special need studentb. Team of educators collaborate with student to writec. Contains goals, instructional activities, and evaluation procedures

B. Learning Disabilities and Behavioral Disorders1. 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 Disordersa. 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 teachera. 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. Modificationsa. Activity oriented rather than language oriented lessons

b. Emphasize structure, redundancy, enthusiasm, pace

c. Partner regular students with disabled students

d. Use checklists for students to monitor own behavior

e. Reduce abstraction; break into parts

f. Use performance assessments to access understanding

C. Physical Disabilities1. 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 Impairmentsa. 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 Impairmentsa. Wide range of possible conditions and accommodations needed

b. Students have often been denied science instruction previously

c. Understand the condition and the limitations

d. Actively solicit input from the student about his/her needs

D. Gifted and Talented Students1. 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 usuala. Join other class for science

b. Credit by examination

c. Teacher is responsible for “class within a class” = increased work

d. Does show benefits to student

4. Enrichment = additional experiences beyond regular classa. Added assignments, field trips, competitions, etc…

b. Saturday or mini-courses

c. Matching student with a mentor such as a practicing scientist

d. 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 EducationA. Cognitive Development

1. Piaget’s cognitive developmenta. 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

b. 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

2. Vygotsky’s influence of culture on cognitive developmenta. Interactions with people and language tied to development

b. Private speech = talking yourself through a problem

c. Zone of Proximal Development = teachable moment; when the learner can reach higher understanding but it requires guidance

d. Private speech replaces teacher’s guidance as skills develop

3. Information Processinga. 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 Instruction1. Realize that multiple levels of development will be present in class

2. Chemistry may be the most abstract; you can see biology/physics

3. Share your thoughts as you work problems to model thinking

4. Listen to students think aloud as they do problems

5. Dealing with unwanted behaviors is a part of secondary teaching: physical and social development (not covered here)