Elsa y Gonzalez

The Search for Emerging Decolonizing Methodologies in Qualitative Research Further Strategies for Liberatory and Democratic Inquiry

Many non-Western and non-English-speaking scholars express the need for supporting a methodological approach that foregrounds the voices of nationals and locals (or indigenous peoples). Supporting this stance, Western scholars will reach out in democratic and liberatory ways that effect research collaboration, helping to foster social justice and locally desired change. This article supports this search via presenting some methodological strategies culled from six different cases of cross-cultural and cross-language research in which both Western and non-Western scholars were involved and/or collaborated. A comparative study of the inquiries themselves, with follow-up interviews with their U.S.-based authors, is the strategy that has been chosen to respond to this search for additional, emerging methodological and narrative approaches to cross-cultural/cross-national research that is useful to both local and Western scholars equally.

Middle-Grade Preservice Teachers’ Mathematical Problem Solving and Problem Posing

Empirical data were gathered from 51 middle-grade preservice teachers who were randomly assigned into one of two groups. The first group solved a task and then posed new problems based on the given figures, and the second group completed these activities in reverse order. Rubrics were developed to assess the written responses, and then thoughts and concerns related to problem-posing experiences were collected to understand their practices. Results revealed that the preservice teachers were proficient in solving simpler arithmetic tasks but had difficulty generalizing and interpreting numerals in an algebraic form. They were able to pose some basic and reasonable problems and to consider important aspects of mathematical problem solving when generating new tasks. Thus, teacher educators should provide substantial educational experiences by incorporating both problem-solving and problem-posing activities into engaging instruction for preservice teachers.

Women students in engineering in Mexico: exploring responses to gender differences

The percentage of women students in engineering in Mexico is still low compared to the percentage of women enrolled in higher education institutions in the country, which has achieved parity with male enrollment. It is thus important to understand how gender can shape the experiences of female college students in engineering programs, which was the focus of this study. Findings for this study are presented in two sections. We first describe how female students have an extra burden dealing with the possibility that their performance might confirm the stereotype of female inferiority in math and science and that they may be judged according to that stereotype. Secondly, we describe the challenges faced by female students in engineering colleges in Mexico, namely, a demanding academic curriculum, and competitive and individualistic environment. This study illustrates how successful female students negotiated the gendered expectations in engineering in Mexican engineering programs, and how they use resistance strategies like academic success to become accepted in the male-dominated engineering environment.The percentage of women students in engineering in Mexico is still low compared to the percentage of women enrolled in higher education institutions in the country, which has achieved parity with male enrollment. It is thus important to understand how gender can shape the experiences of female college students in engineering programs, which was the focus of this study. Findings for this study are presented in two sections. We first describe how female students have an extra burden dealing with the possibility that their performance might confirm the stereotype of female inferiority in math and science and that they may be judged according to that stereotype. Secondly, we describe the challenges faced by female students in engineering colleges in Mexico, namely, a demanding academic curriculum, and competitive and individualistic environment. This study illustrates how successful female students negotiated the gendered expectations in engineering in Mexican engineering programs, and how they use resistance...