Angela Johnson

Unpacking ‘culture’ in cultural studies of science education: cultural difference versus cultural production

In this article, we explore three anthropological approaches to science education research: funds of knowledge, third space/hybridity and practice theory. Definitions, historical origins, uses and constraints of each approach are included along with reviews of exemplary studies in each tradition. We show that funds of knowledge research draws on an earlier research tradition, cultural difference theory and rests on an assumption that groups build culture in response to fixed and static socio-political conditions. Practice theory is more flexible in that it allows researchers to study how groups create local meanings, which may conform to, resist or even transform those larger conditions through cultural production. We then illustrate the approaches by analysing the same case (that of a Mexican-American boy) using both cultural difference theory and practice theory, to illustrate the strengths and limitations of each approach.

Women in Mathematics: A Nested Approach

Abstract In this article, we present a case study of a course called Women in Mathematics. Students in the course studied the lives and the mathematical contributions of women mathematicians throughout history, as well as current gender equity issues in the study of mathematics and in mathematical careers. They also mentored 20 middle school girls throughout the semester. This nested strategy (with the professor providing an environment where the college students could appreciate math, and they, in turn, creating the same for middle school girls) resulted in improvements in both the college students’ and middle school girls’ attitudes towards mathematics.

Application of non-programming focused treisman-style workshops in introductory computer science

In the 1960s and 70s, Uri Treisman developed a specific style of workshops to encourage the retention of underrepresented minority students in Calculus courses at the University of California, Berkley. Since that time, workshops based on the Treisman model have been successfully implemented across the United States and have resulted in more underrepresented minority students successfully completing Calculus. Some attempts have been made to translate the Treisman model to Introductory Computer Science, but all previous attempts have been focused on programming skills. However, one of the student assumptions that deter women and underrepresented minorities from attempting a major or minor in Computer Science is that a computer scientist is purely a solitary programmer [11]. In this paper, we discuss a specific two year pilot program of non-programming focused Treisman-style workshops in conjunction with a Introductory Computer Science course.

Consequential Validity and Science Identity Research

While my research focuses on the science identities performed by women of color, my overarching concern is with social justice. Thus, the first thing I want to ensure about my own work is that it can be used to increase equity, in or out of science, in some way. I think of this as ensuring that it has consequential validity. Consequential validity usually refers to whether test score use is valid (Popham, 2005).