THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST

1. THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST Principal Investigator: Wendy M. Williams Cornell University Graduate Student Collaborators: Paul Papierno, David Biek, Matthew Makel, David Battin, Kim Kopko, Loren Frankel

2. The Problem: • Minority, female, and low-SES youth tend not to pursue science education and careers

3. Observations about Women in STEM Education and Careers • Women comprise less than 25% of all science and engineering jobs in gov’t and private sectors • In select university science and engineering depts., only 15% of tenured and tenure-track professors are women

4. Female share of S&E graduate students, by field: 1991 and 2001

8. Employed S&E doctorate holders, by sexand years since doctorate: 2001

9. S&E bachelor’s degrees awarded per 1,000 U.S. citizens and permanent residents 20–24 years old, by race/ethnicity: 1989–2000

10. Minority undergraduate engineering students,by race/ethnicity: 1990–2002

11. Minority share of S&E master’s degrees awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents,by race/ethnicity: 1989–2001

12. Employed S&E doctorate-holders, by race/ethnicity and field of doctorate: 2001

13. ‘Long Reach’ of Family S.E.S. Looking at the student body of the top 126 colleges/universities in the U.S.: • Only 10% of students come from the bottom 50% of the income distribution • Only 3% of students come from the bottom 25% of the income distribution • We need to reach the youth left behind.

14. Concept/Goals • Minority and low-SES youth tend not to pursue science education and careers • Traditional content-based science education (e.g., Mendel, Periodic Table, plate tectonics) seems abstract to these students; they turn off • By linking science to everyday decisions that affect their lives, we can teach these youth to think like scientists and show them the value of science in their daily lives

16. IDEA: SUMMARY • Most formal science instruction focuses on content. (examples: Gregor Mendel and his peas; Periodic Table of Elements) • Content is quickly forgotten • Even if remembered, knowledge derived from content-based instruction is rarely transferred to new problems/situations • For a few fortunate, motivated, talented students, taught by terrific teachers, underlying principles are first extracted from content-based instruction, then learned, remembered, and applied broadly • BUT what about the vast majority of students not in this group?

17. One Solution:Thinking Like A Scientist • Generate topics relevant to everyday lives of low-SES/minority youth & young adults • Choose exciting topics for which a recent meta-analysis exists in major journal (scientific consensus) • Develop education-outreach materials with catchy design that are easy to use • Link science to daily life • Discuss science careers

18. Ultimate Audience • Low-SES and minority youth/young adults in high schools, technical schools, and community colleges across the U.S. • Same population in community centers, religious organizations, adult-education venues

19. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM Part 1: THEMES 1. Ask: What is science? (Scientific way of knowing.) 2. Define the problem; see many sides. (Define, consider, and argue multiple sides of an issue.) 3. Distinguish fact from opinion: Know what constitutes evidence. 4. Weigh evidence and make decisions. 5. Move from science to society. (From knowing to doing.) 6. Revisit, reflect, re-evaluate, and review.

20. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM Part 2: CONTENTS • Major journals—meta-analyses with consensus • Vetting of topics • Sample topics • Videogames • Smoking • Depression • John-Joan (gender re-assignment)

21. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM Part 3: ORGANIZATION AND LAYOUT • Themes • Activities (e.g., “Think & Write”) • Careers • References and key words • Quizzes • Visual Impact (color blocks) • Ease of Use (spiral notebooks)

29. EVALUATION • Need for comprehensive evaluation with pretest-posttest design including demographically-matched control groups • Comprehensive evaluation not possible in context of community colleges, religious organizations, and adult-education venues • Comprehensive evaluation conducted in high schools offering large samples matching target demographic profile, plus extensive time period for assessment and instruction with TLAS materials

30. Phase One—Pilots (Taught by Graduate Students) Summer 2002: Cornell Cooperative Extension, 4-H residential Youth Camp--Camp Wyomoco, Warsaw, Wyoming County, New York; David Biek piloted several preliminary lessons. Fall 2002: Edison Technical High School, Rochester, New York; David Biek piloted CIRC lessons in a remedial science classroom of 9th and 10th graders, 75% African American and 25% Latino. IMPLEMENTATION

31. Phase One—Pilots Spring 2003: January, 2003, East High School, Rochester, New York--one class taught one in-depth, detailed CIRC lesson per week for ten weeks; remedial science class with 80% African American, 15% Latino, 5% White/Other students. February, 2003, Franklin High School, Rochester, New York--one Biotechnology class taught one lesson per week for ten weeks, inner-city magnet school; juniors and seniors interested in science; 60% African American, 30% Latino, 10% White.

32. Phase One—Pilots • Summer 2003: Cornell Summer Science Seminar; taught by graduate students. • also taught summers of 2004, 2005, 2006; scheduled for 2007.

33. IMPLEMENTATION Phase 2—Expanded Pilot, Spring 2004 (Taught by Classroom Teachers) Multiple at-risk populations, multiple sites, program taught by classroom teachers Low-SES and middle-SES White, Spencer-Van Etten and Candor High Schools, NY (n=290; e=190, c=100). Low-SES Native American Reservation High Schools, Minnesota and North Dakota (n=80; e=55, c=25).

34. IMPLEMENTATION Phase 2—Expanded Pilot Focus Group: 7th and 8th graders at Catholic School, Ithaca, NY; low- and middle-SES Whites (n=50; e=24, c=26). • Taught by research team • Every class videotaped for microanalysis of development of scientific reasoning skills over term. • Assessed in one-on-one setting, assessment read aloud to students, students’ verbal answers written down by experimenters.

37. IMPLEMENTATION Phase 2—Expanded Pilot 100% African American, public assistance population of Chicago High Schoolers 5-week summer program for inner-city youth Taught by University of Chicago graduate students

41. Phase 3—Intensive National Pilot EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN • Overall n = 206 (e = 123, c = 83). • Controls matched on demographics, age, grade, background, geographical area, curriculum. • Assessment administered late January (pretest) and early June (posttest) to all experimental and control students.

42. Fort Totten Ballston Spa Waterloo Marion Pella Scottsdale Hoover

43. ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION OVERVIEW—KEY GOALS • How to measure scientific reasoning, independently of content of our program. • How to be fair to controls. • How to fit within confines of one class period—40 minutes maximum. • How to measure ability to transfer what has been learned to real-world contexts to answer real-world questions.

44. ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION OVERVIEW—OUR MEASURE 3 types of questions: • general, independent examples of scientific reasoning • complex, interdependent examples of scientific reasoning • attitudes about science and school

45. ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION SAMPLE QUESTIONS--type 1,independent judgments • Jed the farmer plants two different types of corn next to each other in the same field to see which will grow faster. Is Jed behaving scientifically? (Definitely Not, Probably Not, Maybe, Probably, Definitely) Why? • Lori’s friend tells Lori that she should not take a job at the local gas station because another student who took the same job last year failed math. Is her friend behaving scientifically? Why?

46. ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION SAMPLE QUESTIONS—type 1,independent judgments • Colleen is planning to buy a new camera. Before she buys one, Colleen checks all the local camera stores to see which has the best selection and price in order to find a camera that best fits her needs. Is Colleen behaving scientifically? Why? • Mike, who is 17, decides to stop drinking soda. Six months later, Mike realizes he has stopped growing. Because he wants to start growing again, Mike begins drinking soda again. Is Mike behaving scientifically? Why?

47. ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION SAMPLE QUESTIONS, type 2— complex, interdependent judgments Carlos has a sore knee. It hurts whenever he plays sports. He is thinking about trying a special knee brace. Carlos wants to make a decision based on science. How important should each of the following pieces of information be to Carlos when he makes his decision? (Not Important, A Little Important, Somewhat Important, Very Important, Extremely Important)

48. Carlos thinks the brace looks stupid. • A television commercial for the brace claims it always works. • His doctor said 8 out of 10 people who use the brace feel better. • His neighbor tried the brace and it did not work. • Carlos’s coach said the brace helped three other boys on the team. • If Carlos has all of the above information and if he wants to make a decision based on science, should he wear the brace? (Definitely Not, Probably Not, Maybe, Probably, Definitely)

49. ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION SAMPLE QUESTIONS, type 3—Attitudes about School & Science SCALE = Definitely Not, Probably Not, Maybe, Probably, Definitely • In general, I like school. • I plan on attending college after high school. • I think science is a boring class. • I am interested in a career in science. • I think scientists are interested in real-world problems. • I talk about science with my friends when I’m outside of school. • I think women can be good scientists. • I trust the ideas that scientists come up with. • My friends think scientists are nerds. • There are a lot of science-related careers available for me to choose from. • My favorite subject is: • My least favorite subject is: