Cassie F. Quigley

Profiles of Urban, Low SES, African American Girls’ Attitudes Toward Science A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study

The purpose of this study was to increase the science education community’s understanding of the experiences and needs of girls who cross the traditional categorical boundaries of gender, race and socioeconomic status in a manner that has left their needs and experience largely invisible. A first of several in a series, this study sought to explore how African American girls from low SES communities position themselves in science learning. We followed a mixed-methods sequential explanatory strategy, in which two data collection phases, qualitative following the quantitative, were employed to investigate 89 African-American girls’ personal orientations towards science learning. By using quantitative data from the Modified Attitudes toward Science Inventory to organize students into attitude profiles and then sequentially integrating the profile scores with year-long interview data, we found that the girls’ orientations towards science were best described in terms of definitions of science, importance of science, experiences with science, and success in science. Therefore, our mixed method analysis provided four personality orientations which linked success in school and experiences with science to confidence and importance of science and definitions of science to value/desire. In our efforts to decrease the achievement gap, we concluded there should be more emphasis on conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills, while still being cognizant of the danger of losing the connection between science and society which so often plagues achievement-focused efforts. Our continued efforts with this group of girls will center on these instructional techniques with the goal of addressing the needs of all science learners.

Enacting Decolonized Methodologies: The Doing of Research in Educational Communities

Indigenous scholars have debated the impact that researchers and the act of researching have on Native and Indigenous people and communities. Although literature on this subject has grown, little has been written explicitly laying out the doing of research with these communities. The authors seek to articulate their doing by drawing upon the essential research principles and standards set by scholars. The authors seek to examine their work as education researchers in three different international contexts—Kenya, Cambodia, and “Indian country” in the United States—highlighting research practice shaped by context, relationship, and discourse emergent in their investigations of schooling, language revitalization, and scientific knowledge access. The authors reflect, analyze, and summarize their actions of decolonizing research that were present or particularly challenging cross-culturally, in each context. Examples of common action in the projects include relinquishing control, reenvisioning knowledge, cultivating relationships, and purposeful representation of communities. Finally, the authors connect their actions to the principles and standards set by scholars and discuss lessons learned.

Exploring teachers’ perceptions of STEAM teaching through professional development: implications for teacher educators

This research involves a multi-year study examining the perspectives and classroom practices of 21 middle school mathematics and science teachers, in the southeastern United States, participating in professional development (PD) exploring science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) literacies. This study sought to understand teachers’ perceptions and practices before and after a PD in which STEAM integration was explored through project-based learning involving the political, social, economical, environmental and historical context of a local river. Participants used digital media as a means of communicating and collaborating with peers and mentors, collecting and analyzing data, and creating and sharing projects. Results suggest teachers increased their understanding of STEAM to teach content and perceived the STEAM PD as an effective initial step to change practice, citing the importance of collaboration and technology integrated directly into the learning process. Implications from this study offer other teacher educators valuable considerations towards developing successful STEAM PD to effect successful STEAM teaching.

The viability of portraiture for science education research: learning from portraits of two science classrooms

The purpose of this paper is to describe the relevance of a qualitative methodology called portraiture for science education. Portraiture is a method of inquiry that blends art and science by combining the empirical aspects of inquiry with beauty and aesthetic properties. This method encompasses all aspects of a research study, including protocol, data collection and analysis, and presentation of findings. To examine the viability of portraiture as methodology for science education researchers, we provided two portraits of science teachers and their classrooms to illustrate how context played a significant role in teachers’ experiences and how it influenced their classroom pedagogy. The implications of this work show how portraiture can support deep, dynamic understanding of context in science education. This work also illustrates the importance of attending to relationships and voice, both of which are often lacking in science education research.

No One Should Destroy the Forest: Using Photo-Based Vignette Interviews to Understand Kenyan Teachers' Views of the Environment.

In the midst of the current environmental crisis, scientists, academics, authors, and politicians worldwide are urging citizens to create sustainable communities. However, there is little capability to build a sustainable society without an informed, active, and engaged populous. This requires more than just environmentally knowledgeable citizens. It requires a society that understands the principles of the environment and can also exemplify them in daily life. In order to create a more environmentally literate world, there has been a push for environmental education integrated into schools. This qualitative study sought to examine Kenyan teachers’ perspectives on the human–nature interaction by conducting vignette focus-group interviews. It is a subject not widely explored but vital for conservation not only in this area, but also other areas that seek to have an ecological informed populous. The vignettes were created using photographs and explanations of the photographs that the participants collected and emailed to the authors. For the focus-group vignette interviews, there were a total of 55 participants (30 females and 25 males). After InVivo analysis, we had 6 codes (resentment, pride, perils, blame, pragmatism, and self-interested) within 3 major themes. This study has implications for informing science education to combat these traditions of subjecting students to a science curriculum that demotes Kenyan cultural heritage and lifestyle. By incorporating local knowledge such as the ideas discussed in this paper into Kenyan science education, Kenyans can reach one of most challenging objectives of education, which is to produce children who are fundamentally aware of their environment.

Seeking to Improve African American Girls’ Attitudes toward Science

In this participatory action research study, we answered the question, How can we improve attitudes toward science education of the African American girls at an elementary school? Girls in grades 3–6 completed the Modified Attitudes toward Science Inventory. A purposeful sample of 30 girls participated in several focus-group interviews throughout the year. The cumulative findings indicate that our initiative (1) had positive impacts on girls who originally demonstrated low self-efficacy in science education or low attraction to science and (2) maintained the positive attitudes of the other girls. The instructional aspects of our initiative that contributed to the improvement in attitudes included the establishment of collaborative activities, a supportive lab teacher, and inquiry-based experiences focused on local problems. Our findings also reveal aspects of our efforts that we need to improve. These areas include a more open, inquiry-based science fair and connections between the lab and classroom teachers.

Issues and techniques in translating scientific terms from English to Khmer for a university-level text in Cambodia

Teachers and students spend much time interacting with written resources such as textbooks, tests, or worksheets during classroom instruction. What if no text is available, however, in the language of the learners? This case study describes the processes and techniques adopted by two university lecturers in Cambodia, as they translated an L1 (first language) science text into Khmer in a manner that tried to take full account of the cultural, linguistic, and social dimensions of language. Using a variety of translation techniques, they aimed to produce a Khmer text which would be most effective in promoting the learning of the new scientific terms required. Among the approaches used were the employment of English–Khmer word pairs, repetition throughout the text, and the incorporation of pictures where appropriate. The significance of this study is that it provides detailed and specific examples of how teachers and lecturers might respond to the challenges of translating scientific texts into languages that have not been extensively used as a medium of instruction at third level in recent times. It is hoped that it will also make some contribution to the larger effort to promote and restore native languages to their rightful place in education in post-colonial countries.

The Role of Care in Environmental Education

Environmental education and environmental advocacy are a complicated pair. To avoid indoctrination of children, environmental educators must be cautious and distinguish between teaching students about environmental problems and telling students what actions should be taken on education and advocacy (Johnson and Mappin, Environmental education and advocacy: changing perspectives of ecology and education. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005). In this chapter, we utilize a critical approach to environmental education which purports teachers’ need to support students’ understanding of the reasons for environmental problems, encourage them to deconstruct normative rhetoric around environmental issues, and then provide opportunities for students to participate in the conceptualizing of these issues with the values of social justice in mind (Fien, Aust J Environ Educ 19:1, 2003). This work relates to current research on well-being but also draws on emotions literature to introduce a focus on care. The chapter focuses on both John Fien’s (Aust J Environ Educ 19:1, 2003) and Peter Martin’s (Aust J Environ Educ 23:57, 2007) application of an ethic of care in environmental education, further theorizing Noddings’ notions of care in the context of environmental education and finally highlighting an experience of care-based environmental education pedagogy. The experience, a student-initiated investigation of the Aedes mosquito, describes nurturing an ethic of care in environmental science in a middle school setting. The chapter concludes with a section on further directions for an ethic of care in environmental science, as well as the implications of and complications with teaching students to care for the environment.

“Women and the environmental are together”: using Participatory Rural Appraisal to examine gendered tensions about the environment

Environmental education research (EER) rarely includes women’s perspectives. This means that in environmental education research, an entire knowledge source is largely ignored. This study employed a methodology called Participatory Rural Appraisal, a methodology new to the field of EER, of Kenyan teachers from the Maasai Mara region to understand the tensions around environmental views. The purpose of this work was to examine, through the use of a participatory methodology, the conceptions of the environmental of these teachers and to uncover gendered tensions. The analysis included a continuous, thematic review that included the participants during the analysis. The findings included the following themes: Why are people doing what they are doing? Who is or is not acting? How do we move forward? This research documented gendered tensions such as the burdens of responsibility, the power imbalance disadvantaged women feel regarding solving environmental issues, and the blame that is directed at both men and women as a result of these burdens and power imbalances. This methodology provided a way for participants to understand each other’s viewpoints in layered ways, and pointed to gender issues throughout that sometimes caused blame. However, it also helped the participants think about how to work together.

Emotions, Aesthetics and Wellbeing in Science Education: Theoretical Foundations

This internationally edited collection on emotions, aesthetics, and wellbeing emerged following an exploratory research workshop held in Luxembourg associated with the journal Cultural Studies of Science Education (CSSE). The workshop was entitled ‘Innovation and collaboration in cultural studies of science education: Towards an international research agenda.’ Authors were invited to articulate the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of their research, offering empirical elaborations to illustrate applications of these conceptual and methodological foundations. An outcome of this international collaboration is the rich and diverse range of perspectives represented in this collection. This book will serve as a useful reference for those seeking to study emotions, aesthetics and wellbeing, and others who wish to develop deeper engagement with theoretical and philosophical traditions informing such research. Possibilities for future research are elaborated within the collection generating scope for further collaborative and international studies informed by perspectives represented in the collection. In the present chapter, we outline the origin of this edited collection against the background of existing research interest in the field of science education. We then provide an overview of each chapter in the collection.