Teaching Biology AND Social Justice?

 

Biology is a content area that may not generally come to mind when one thinks of teaching for social justice, however I see many options to teach content in Biology as an indirect social justice issue.  During the study of human genetics, gender issues can be addressed by talking about how there are more options than just male XY and female XX chromosomes.  Students’ eyes can be opened by discussing various genetic disorders and the learning disabilities or physical disabilities that these genetic defects can cause.  Through learning about genetics students can learn that it is not a choice to appear or behave a certain way but that traits are often in a person’s genes. 

Genetically modified food and cell research poses a controversy and bringing these new discoveries and research into the classroom can be teaching to social justice.  Since it may not be addressed in all areas, just having the facts and both sides of an argument on an issue that could impact every adolescent in the classroom is teaching with critical literacy and social justice issues in mind. (CC)

How can physics contribute to social justice? (gh)

            Physics can be incorporated into social justice in a variety of ways.  The fundamental concepts taught at the high school level can shed light on new technologies that have the potential to revolutionize the way we approach energy policy.  The cost of energy is a concern of every nation on earth.  What is the cost?  Do we have the supply to power a productive society and economy?  What non-traditional ways can you think of to produce enough energy to accomplish these goals?  These are all questions that can be posed to students learning basics both to help generate a more broad way of thinking and also to show them that if these models are extrapolated one can solve an assortment of different problems.  As one can see this works both ways.  Physics can be used to promote social justice issues but these same issues can be used to demonstrate that physics plays a role in our society.  By doing this you are encouraging those interested in physics to view the field in a different context while showing those interested in government and policy that physics and science education must be addressed and understood to make informed decisions. (gh)

How can math contribute to social justice work?

Math can contribute to social justice work in many ways. Math can be used to figure out statistics about important social justice issues in the community or broader areas. We can introduce our students in a statistics course to how to gather the data and be able to graphically or verbally convey what is happening. Also, math gives us a way to quantify the injustices occurring. When people see statistics it is usually the most eye-opening for them. It can be a catalyst for change and cause people to want to do more to help their community, their peers, or their families. Many people do not connect math with social justice, but I believe it is extremely important to do so. As a future math teacher, I would like to teach my students ways that math can display social justice topics and issues and hopefully cause them to continue it in the future. I think social justice is something that can be intertwined into every subject, and has a different impact in each one. Math teachers need to make themselves familiar with the social injustices in their community and can use it  to collect data, make hypotheses, and hopefully collaborate with other clubs or departments to do a community project or start a new club at the school. The whole school should work together in order to promote justice, equality, and equity. (AM)

What factors contribute to the underrepresentation of women and minorities in physics?(GH)

In the limited research I have done on this topic so far I have come across some interesting yet troubling statistics.  In a paper published by the American Physical Society in May 2012 they state that 50% of women take some type of high school physics class.  But, at the university level only 20% of undergraduate bachelor degrees are received by women.  This is also the same rate at which women take an AP physics course in high school.  What can account for this gender gap?  Are women encouraged to engage in other sciences other than physics or do they actively seek out sciences were women are more evenly represented?  Take biology for example, women are over represented in the amount of undergraduate degrees awarded.  This could be that science technology and math are often looked at as one discipline where women are more evenly represented covering up the shortage of women in physics. 

For minorities the situation is similar, while 50% of white and Asian students take at least one physics class in high school only about 25% of African Americans take a physics class in high school.  Hispanic students have been awarded degrees at an increasingly higher rate but they are still under represented when compared to Asian and white students.  While a larger number of degrees of Hispanic students has gone up it has not kept pace with the rate at which the Hispanic population has increased.

For African American women the issue is compounded.  On average only 6 PhD’s in physics are awarded each year to women of color in the United States.  Although they are hired at the same rate as other graduates I can imagine them feeling some degree of isolation in the field.  How can they influence a younger generation to reach the same amount of success if they are so few and far between? 

Although I need to narrow this topic I want to know why this is the case and what can we do to get the percentage of undergraduate physics degrees given each year to more evenly represent the overall population. (gh)

Standardized Testing…?

Research Question:

To what extent is increased standardized testing and standardized assessments affecting how education (particularly the curriculum) in the middle schools and high schools is being structured? (How is standardized testing altering the face of education in America?)

With New York State joining the ranks of other states who, at the start of this academic year, initiated a new schedule for the quantity and quality of standardized testing as well as an increased amount of attention being dedicated to such an issue in several of my education seminars, I could not help but wonder what such a mindset was really doing to America’s educational system.  I have always found the struggle between whether to “teach to the test” or to teach content freely without any restrictions or necessary requirements an interesting topic.  How are educators structuring their lessons if they feel limited in what they can and cannot teach?  How are lessons and topics interdisciplinary or multidimensional if standardized examinations are looming overhead?  Since I began my observations in the schools, I have been listening to the various reactions that students and educators have to increased testing, and I am curious to conduct more thorough research from outside sources and within the schools themselves.  I believe it is important for future educators to learn more about this issue, its strengths and drawbacks to education, what individuals across the board think about it, and what kind of future we are creating for education if we continue along the path we as educators are on now.

To properly collect data from within the schools, it is my intention at this time to conduct surveys that will not only ask for the honest opinions of teachers, but will consider the perspectives of students, administrators, and possibly college professors as well (and if I am ambitious, maybe even some parents if at all possible to obtain their opinions).  Depending upon the responses, I may even consider interviewing several of the people who partake in the survey (a survey that will be conducted anonymously).  I would also be interested in looking at the collective results from the earliest assessments conducted this year to see if this new method of increased testing is harming or benefiting students and their teachers.  It is fascinating to also compare this country’s stance on standardized testing compared to other nations who lead in educational practices.  In an English classroom, there is a broad range of literary material and foundational information that must be taught to students and I am curious as to how increased standardized testing may or may not be altering curriculums.

Although I am still trying to piece together the exact means by which I hope to conduct my research, I do hope that my research into this topic will help me to answer several other questions included here and some I have yet to consider.  What are we as educators hoping to accomplish from an increased regiment of testing?  What are these assessments actually measuring in our students, our teachers, and our educational curriculums?  What should they be testing?  Are these assessments worth the time and energy it takes to administer them?  What is the “teaching to the test” mentality doing to American education?  How are students, educators, and administrators reacting to an increase in standardized testing?  How is standardized testing ensuring accountability in education and those involved in the experience?  Is there perhaps an alternative method of evaluating student/teacher achievement and/or progress? (JS)

Research topic information (RT)

Question: To what extent is the arrangements of classroom desks more effective?


A classroom desk arrangement gives students clues about how the instructor wishes for them to contribute, and the teaching style of the instructor. The ideal class design is the one which contributes to the instructor’s style of teaching and guides the class in the direction the teacher wishes. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each can help one set up their classroom to inspire students to react best to their lesson. 


I have been thinking about researching this topic because when I have observed a lot of times in many different classrooms, some rooms would have their desks in rows or in groups. The desks arrangements would also depend on what type of class it was. For example, Math classes that I observed had a mixture of desks in rows and in groups, but Science classes that I have seen seemed to always be in groups. So what factor or factors depend on the arrangement of classroom desks? I also need to know the advantages and disadvantages of classroom desk arrangements. There are various types of desks arrangements that I plan on focusing such as traditional row seating, U- shaped seating, clustered desks, and sectioned classroom. This is a study I plan to do research on and collect data from interviewing different teachers in the Hempstead school district because I am currently observing there.

How can educators promote LGBT acceptance in schools? SL

While this is still a working idea that I am playing around with, I am interested to know how as educators we would be able to promote more LGBT tolerance within schools. Knowing various people who have identified as LGBT, I realized that as these people went through school, no one ever really addressed LGBT issues, causing these students to feel somewhat isolated and confused. I am still working on how I would survey this issue. I feel that due to the amount of time we spend in the education system while we grow up, this is a crucial place for issues like these to be learned. I think that regardless of the content area, while it still may be slightly (but not impossible!) more difficult for those in the math and sciences to bring up these issues, they can be addressed in different ways and through different methods.