Minority Middle and High School Students' Interest in Science: An Exploration of Teachers' Perceptions

<p>A high school teacher conducted a study about minority middle and high school students’ interest in science. The problem was to find out why African American and Hispanic students were showing very little interest in science. The researcher used four middle school science teachers and nine high school science teachers, all from inner city schools in a big city of the Midwest United States except for one middle school teacher from a nearby suburb. The participants answered a survey questionnaire followed with a face-to-face recorded interview. The findings of the study confirmed that students showed little interest in science due to a myriad of reasons. Overall, the students preferred to work in small groups and to do labs and activities, and did not like to be lectured, to take notes, or to read science materials. This study could be useful to teachers in similar environments with similar populations.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D. Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation - Public Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Social Inquiry

Year dc:date.available

2016

Author dc:creator

• Makere, Caroline

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Sara Efron
• Dr. Shaunti Knauth
• Dr. Vito Dipinto, Dr. Michael Knapp

• Critical Race Theory
• Latina/Latino Critical Theory
• student science interest
• eugenics
• inner city middle and high schools
• Biology
• Curriculum and Social Inquiry
• Education
• Evolution
• Genetics and Genomics
• International and Comparative Education
• Life Sciences
• Science and Mathematics Education
• Secondary Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/216

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.nl.edu:diss-1223