The Science Relevancy Bridge: Connecting Studnets' Intersectionality and Science Identity
Abstract
Both the content and instruction of science can be perceived as being challenging and disconnected from students’ lives. Therefore, I propose the need to rethink what it means for science teaching and learning to be relevant to all science learners. I introduce a framework, The Science Relevancy Bridge, to better connect students’ varied intersecting sociocultural identities, or their intersectionality, to their developing science identities. Students’ societal identities intersect outside and inside the classroom, framing how students experience their science learning in meaningful ways. How science is taught in the classroom traditionally does not offer pathways for students with diverse multicultural backgrounds to view science as a beneficial resource for their worldview, values, and funds of knowledge. How students identify with science also plays a role in their current and future view of science in general and science’s purpose in their lived experiences, decisions, and critical issues. While research calls for science teaching to be made relevant to K-16 learners, the idea of what makes science relevant to students remains somewhat undefined and nebulous. Additionally, the connectedness between the role of students’ intersectionality and their developing science identities needs to be better understood and concretized in research and in practice. The Science Relevancy Bridge, composed of the four dimensions: science learning preparedness, science and society, science for everyday life, and foundations of scientific thinking, aims to reshape K-16 science education and curriculum by developing a useful dialogue between students’ intersectionality and their identity as science-minded individuals in the world.
Presentation Description
.
Location
Room 107
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
McCurdy, Regina, "The Science Relevancy Bridge: Connecting Studnets' Intersectionality and Science Identity" (2022). Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative. 40.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cssc/2022/2022/40
The Science Relevancy Bridge: Connecting Studnets' Intersectionality and Science Identity
Room 107
Both the content and instruction of science can be perceived as being challenging and disconnected from students’ lives. Therefore, I propose the need to rethink what it means for science teaching and learning to be relevant to all science learners. I introduce a framework, The Science Relevancy Bridge, to better connect students’ varied intersecting sociocultural identities, or their intersectionality, to their developing science identities. Students’ societal identities intersect outside and inside the classroom, framing how students experience their science learning in meaningful ways. How science is taught in the classroom traditionally does not offer pathways for students with diverse multicultural backgrounds to view science as a beneficial resource for their worldview, values, and funds of knowledge. How students identify with science also plays a role in their current and future view of science in general and science’s purpose in their lived experiences, decisions, and critical issues. While research calls for science teaching to be made relevant to K-16 learners, the idea of what makes science relevant to students remains somewhat undefined and nebulous. Additionally, the connectedness between the role of students’ intersectionality and their developing science identities needs to be better understood and concretized in research and in practice. The Science Relevancy Bridge, composed of the four dimensions: science learning preparedness, science and society, science for everyday life, and foundations of scientific thinking, aims to reshape K-16 science education and curriculum by developing a useful dialogue between students’ intersectionality and their identity as science-minded individuals in the world.
